Tourist arrivals up 1.0% y/y in July 2019
Total international arrivals (tourists and same-day arrivals) to Georgia increased by 4.3% y/y to 0.88mn in July 2019, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This growth was mostly driven by same-day arrivals (+11.1% y/y to 0.31mn trips), while tourist arrivals also increased by 1.0% y/y (64.7% of total). Out of top countries, in July 2019, international visitors increased from Azerbaijan (+13.1%), Turkey (+9.6% y/y), Armenia (+3.2% y/y), Ukraine (+18.2%), Saudi Arabia (+42.1%) and Israel (+15.5% y/y). Meanwhile, visitors declined from Russia (-6.4% y/y) due to Russia’s direct flight ban to Georgia and Iran (-60.8% y/y). Visitors from the EU were up 14.1% y/y to over 55,400 visitors, with Germany, Poland and France driving the growth. In 7M19, total international visitors stood at 4.1mn (+7.0% y/y), of which tourist arrivals reached 2.7mn (+8.0% y/y). Meanwhile, tourism revenues stood at US$ 1.9bn (+5.0% y/y) in 7M19 by our estimates.
International reserves up 25.6% y/y in July 2019
Gross international reserves were up 25.6% y/y to US$ 3.7bn in July 2019. On a monthly basis reserves were down 1.6% m/m, according to NBG. Change in reserves was attributed to government and banking sector FX operations and/or asset revaluation.
