The number of visitors at Georgia’s mountain resorts reached a historical high during the 2016-2017 season. Mountain Resorts Development Company (MRDC), the managing entity of Georgian winter resorts, has released a summary of the season. Thanks to favorable weather conditions, the season opened early in December in Gudauri and by the end of the year, all winter resorts were receiving guests. The early start provided a welcome boost, as the total number of visitors to Georgia’s winter resorts exceeded 400,000 (+37.0% y/y) during the season.
Gudauri remains the most popular ski resort, hosting more than 276,000 visitors during the season, up 37.1% y/y. The number of visitors to Gudauri has increased more than three-fold from almost 89,000 visitors during the 2011-2012 season. The resort’s proximity to the Russian border makes it especially attractive for Russian skiers. Currently Gudauri features 10 ski lifts, with combined tracks of approximately 70km, and visitors can enjoy skiing, snowboarding, paragliding, and heli-skiing. MRDC and the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure are currently working on a 7.5km Kobi-Gudauri ski lift, which will connect Gudauri with Kazbegi. The project is expected to be finished by end-2018 and will be the longest lift in the Caucasus. Other projects include an artificial lake for snowmaking purposes, which would prolong the winter season in Gudauri.
Major development is in the works for Bakuriani, which hosted over 115,000 visitors in the 2016-2017 season, up 24.6% y/y. The coming years will see Olympic infrastructure development at the resort, with a biathlon track, ski jumping hills, and an ice hockey rink in the pipeline. Furthermore, Georgian Reconstruction and Development Company (GRDC), in a PPP with the Georgian government, plans to invest GEL 100mn in the development of the Kokhta-Mitarbi resort, adjacent to Bakuriani. The resort will be developed according to a master plan prepared by the industry leader, Geode.
The number of international arrivals was up 5.7% y/y to 0.55mn in May 2017. Out of the top four source markets, there was strong growth from Armenia (+8.9% y/y), Azerbaijan (+8.5% y/y) and Russia (+16.8% y/y). A 24.4% y/y decrease in arrivals from Turkey, in line with the downward trend of the last few months, was the main drag on growth in the total number of visitors. Arrivals from the EU were up 13.0% y/y to over 28,000 visitors, while Ukraine also posted solid growth (+20.2% y/y).
