International arrivals up 286.8% y/y in June 2021
Total international arrivals (tourists and same-day arrivals) to Georgia increased by 286.8% y/y to 146.7k persons in June 2021, according to GNTA, which represents 20.2% of June 2019 level. This growth was mainly driven by 361.6% y/y growth in tourist arrivals from last year’s low base. The largest contribution to international visitor growth came from Israel (+344x y/y), followed by Ukraine (+14x y/y), Turkey (+87% y/y) and Russia (+332.9% y/y) in June. Overall, in 1H21 total international arrivals stood at 464.1k (-62.2% y/y and -85.6% vs 1H19), of which tourist arrivals reached 422.4k (-50.2% y/y) persons. Meanwhile, we estimate tourism revenues at US$ 293.6mn in 1H21, down 35.7% y/y and down 79.8% vs 1H19.
International reserves at US$ 3.9bn in June 2021
Gross international reserves increased by 8.4% y/y to US$ 3.9bn in June 2021 according to NBG. On a monthly basis, the reserves were down by 5.7% (-US$ 235.1mn). Changes in reserves were attributed to the government and banking sector FX operations, and/or asset revaluation.
