Tourist arrivals increased 5.1% y/y in Feb-19, after growing 5.9% y/y in previous month. Same-day arrivals continued to decline, down 10.7% y/y in Feb-19, after 13.1% y/y drop in previous month. As a result, total international visitors to Georgia were down 1.2% y/y to 0.4mn persons in Feb-19
Russia was the largest source of visitor growth, followed by Israel. Visitors from the EU were up 29.0% y/y to over 16k visitors, with Germany and Poland driving growth. From non-traditional markets visitors were pronounced from India, China and Philippines
From major source markets, visitors from Turkey continued to fall for a 6th consecutive month, mostly reflected in reduced same-day arrival numbers. Arrivals from Iran almost halved (down since Jun-18 with the exception of Nov-18), partly explaining slowdown in tourist growth figures
We expect tourist arrival growth to accelerate from 2H19, due to high season and fading effect of reduced visitors from Iran and Turkey
Please see the full note here, which brings together tourist arrival data for reporting month, most recent statistical information available in the sector and 2019 forecast.
