Georgia welcomes over 3 Million international traveller visits in H1 2026
Georgia welcomed more than three million international traveller visits in the first half of 2026, including over 2.27 million international tourist visits, according to figures released by the Georgian National Tourism Administration.
The Administration said 2,272,964 international tourist visits were recorded between January and June, representing an increase of 2,601 visits (0.1%) compared to the same period in 2025. The total number of international traveller visits reached 3,050,173, marking a year-on-year decrease of 103,568 visits (3.3%).
Tourism revenues totalled $1.9 billion during the six-month period, representing a 2% decrease compared to the first half of 2025.
In the second quarter (April-June), Georgia recorded 1,275,435 international tourist visits, down by 35,981 visits (2.7%) year-on-year. International traveller visits totalled 1,749,668, representing a decline of 89,245 visits (4.9%) compared to the same period last year. Tourism revenues in the second quarter amounted to $1.1 billion, marking a 3.8% decrease year-on-year.
According to the Administration, the decline was driven by reduced tourist flows from countries directly affected by regional conflicts, as well as related restrictions on air travel. It added that the impact had been significantly mitigated through market diversification and active international marketing campaigns, which contributed to record growth from Europe and rising visitor numbers from China and Central Asia.
Between January and June, Georgia recorded a historic high of 249,201 visits from EU member states and the United Kingdom, representing a 23.4% increase compared to the same period in 2025. The second quarter also saw a record number of visits from these markets, reaching 152,975, up 19.4% year-on-year.
Tourism revenue from the EU and the UK reached a record $335.7 million in the first six months of the year, an increase of $58.6 million (21.2%) compared to the same period in 2025. Second-quarter revenue from these markets totalled $194.9 million, up $21.1 million (12.1%) year-on-year.
The Administration also reported 54,554 international visits from China during the first half of 2026, representing a 16.7% year-on-year increase, while second-quarter arrivals from China rose by 3.2%. International visits from Central Asian countries totalled 115,416, up 3.1%, with second-quarter growth reaching 6.9%.
The agency attributed the positive trends to its diversified market strategy, which includes large-scale international marketing campaigns aimed at increasing awareness of Georgia as a tourist destination while supporting the tourism sector. It noted that 85 airlines are currently operating flights to Georgia from 125 destinations - the highest number on record - with Norwegian launching the Copenhagen-Tbilisi route and China Eastern Airlines introducing Shanghai-Tbilisi services.
The Administration also cited the UN Tourism forecast, which projects global international tourism growth to slow by 3-4% in 2026, depending on the duration and geographical spread of ongoing regional conflicts.
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International visitors spend 3.0 billion GEL in Quarter II of 2026, down by 13.3 per cent compared to same period of 2025 - Geostat
30.07.2026.18:05
In the II quarter of 2026, the number of arrivals of international non-resident travellers1 in the territory of Georgia equaled 1.7 million, which is 4.9 percent lower compared to the same period of the previous year. Most of the arrivals, 43.8 percent, were made by travellers of the age group 31-50, the National Statistics Service of Georgia (GeoStat) reported.
According to the GeoStat, in the II quarter of 2026, the number of international visitors equaled 1.3 million, which is 5.2 percent lower compared to the same period of the previous year. In the reporting period, international visitors made 1.2 million tourist-type visits, which is 2.7 percent lower compared to the same period of the previous year.
81.5 percent of international visitors were only tourists. The share of only excursionists amounted to 14.8 percent, while 3.8 percent of visitors were both tourists and same-day visitors.
In the II quarter of 2026, the largest number of visitors (328.9 thousand visitors), amounting to 25.1 percent of the total number of visitors, was from Russian Federation. Turkey was in second place with 16.9% share and Armenia was in third place with 10.8% share. The largest number of visits were made by the citizens of the Russian Federation (380.1 thousand), Turkey (287.0 thousand) and Armenia (199.6 thousand).
The majority of visitors (45.6 percent) belonged to the age group of 31-50 and women accounted for 42.9 percent of the total number of visitors.
In the II quarter of 2026, the purpose of the majority of inbound visits (49.6 percent) was holiday, leisure and recreation.
The majority of visits were made in Tbilisi and Adjara A/R, 875.5 thousand and 621.3 thousand, respectively.
In the II quarter of 2026, the average number of nights spent during the visits equaled 5.48, which is 3.5 percent higher than the same figure of the II quarter of 2025 (5.30 nights). 81.8 percent of visits was repeating visit.
The expenditures during the visits made in the II quarter of 2026 equaled 3.0 billion GEL. The indicator is 13.3 percent lower compared to the same period of the previous year. Average expenditure per visit decreased by 9.2 percent compared to the II quarter of 2025 and amounted to 1 922.1 GEL.