Tourist flows from European countries have decreased. Interest in Georgia from China and India is growing. Citizens of the Persian Gulf countries still lead among visitors. Irakli Kabulashvili, director of the Omnes Tour travel agency, says in a conversation with Commersant that European tourists book their trips several months in advance. At a time when Georgia was supposed to receive orders from European tourists, a tense situation developed in the country that affected the country's tourist geography.
„The situation is not like that now, but the booking period has already finished. In general, each market has its own specifics. The European market is busier in the autumn-winter period. When there was a booking season, the situation was really bad for us, and this affected the European market. We do not have exact statistics yet, since the season is not over. "I estimate that this year there will be a decline of at least 10-15% from the European markets," says Irakli Kabulashvili.
The director of the travel company Omnes Tours says that interest in Georgia from Chinese and Indian tourists is growing. Irakli Kabulashvili explains that the number of guests from Asian countries is increasing every year, although this year it has become especially noticeable amid a decline in the flow of European tourists.
"At this stage, the bulk of tourists entering the country in organized groups are mainly from China and India." Previously, many Indian tourists came here as well as tourists from the Persian Gulf countries, such as Dubai, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait," Irakli Kabulashvili notes.
The Adjara region is more attractive to Asian tourists. Chinese tourists prefer a tour that includes several countries of the Caucasus region. Irakli Kabulashvili explains tourists’ desire to visit several countries in one tour due to high cost of tickets and long distances that need to be covered.
"The main point of arrival is the capital, Tbilisi accounts for about 90% of trips." The eastern market is more interested in the Adjara zone, Batumi. The main concentration of visitors from Asia occurs there. 90% of Kazakh tourists come to Batumi. The Chinese are very interested in excursion tourism that covers all of Georgia. Tours from China are often combined and include the whole Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, since these tourists arrive from afar, the plane ticket is relatively expensive, so they prefer to organize a larger tour and see everything together, rather than go to the countries separately," Irakli Kabulashvili points out in a conversation with Commersant.
