Tourist arrivals increased 4.3% y/y in March-19, after growing 5.1% y/y in previous month. Same-day arrivals were up 5.0% y/y in March-19, after 10.7% y/y drop in previous month. As a result, total international visitors to Georgia were up 4.6% y/y to 0.5mn persons in March-19.
Russia was the largest source of visitor growth, followed by Azerbaijan and Israel in March-19. Visitors from the EU were up 25.9% y/y to almost 21k visitors, with Germany and Poland driving growth.
From major source markets, visitors from Turkey continued to fall for a 7th consecutive month, but on a much slower rate in March-19 compared to previous months. Arrivals from Iran more than halved (down since Jun-18 with the exception of Nov-18), and is the major reason behind 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.
