1 million tourist visits in 3 months - new record high for Georgia
Photo: Georgian National Tourism Administration
The Georgian National Tourism Administration has released the latest figures for the first quarter of 2026, revealing a new record for international tourist visits.
Between January and March 2026, Georgia welcomed 997,529 international tourist visits, marking a 4% increase (+38,582 visits) compared to the same period in 2025. This sets a historic high for tourist arrivals in the first three months of the year.
While tourism specifically saw growth, total international traveler entries (including transit and non-tourist visits) reached 1,300,505, a slight decline of 1.1% (-14,323 visits) year-over-year.
Turkey remains the primary source of visitors, contributing 238,368 visits in the first quarter. The Top 15 list of visitors includes neighboring countries alongside strategic markets such as the USA, UK, Germany, Poland, Israel, Kazakhstan, China, and India.
A significant milestone was reached in arrivals from the European Union and the United Kingdom, totaling 96,226 visits - a 30.2% increase over the previous year. Notable growth was recorded in:
- Germany +37.6%
- Poland +34.3%
- United Kingdom +45.7%
- Italy +70.7%
- Greece +21.7%
- France +24.7%
- Slovakia +87.6%
- Lithuania +29.9%
- Spain +44.4%
- Netherlands +25.8%
Special growth was recorded from the following strategic markets:
- China +48.6%
- United States +19.3%
- Korea +67.2%
- Switzerland +33.7%
The ongoing war in Iran and cancelled flights have negatively impacted visitor numbers from the following countries:
- Iran -48.8%
- India -29.5%
- Israel -17.5%
However, the Gulf States showed resilience with an overall 8.2% growth in visitors. While the UAE (-19.8%) and Kuwait (-18.7%) saw drops, other nations in the region experienced sharp increases:
- Saudi Arabia +36.3%
- Bahrain +20.9%
- United Arab Emirates -19.8%
- Kuwait -18.7%
- Qatar -7.4%
- Oman +1.1%
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