The number of international arrivals was up 19.8% y/y to 0.39mn in January 2017. Out of the top four source markets, there was strong growth from Russia (+40.3% y/y), Armenia (+31.4% y/y), and Azerbaijan (+7.1% y/y), while the number of visitors from Turkey was flat (-0.8% y/y).
While the top four source markets accounted for 86.3% of international arrivals in January 2017, secondary source markets also posted robust performances. Ukraine, the 5th largest source market, posted a 28.2% y/y increase in January 2017, while the number of Iranian visitors was up over 7x to 8,000 visitors, albeit from the low base in January 2016, as visa-free regime with Iran was reinstated in February 2016. After growing 8.6% y/y in 2016, arrivals from the EU posted 26.1% y/y growth to over 10,500 visitors in January 2017, with Poland (+24.9% y/y), Germany (+32.0% y/y) and United Kingdom (+22.8% y/y) the top contributors to growth.
The tourist category continues to drive arrival growth in January 2017, after posting a 19.0% y/y growth rate in 2016. The number of overnight visitors (‘tourist’ category) was up 32.4% y/y and accounted for 39.8% of total international arrivals in January 2017. Same-day arrivals posted modest growth of 5.9% y/y, while the number of transit visitors was up 34.8% y/y in January 2017, after declining 5.7% y/y in 2016.
