Tourism and aviation are the most significant directions of the Georgian economy for making their outstanding contribution in the advancement of our economy! It was stated by the Prime Minister of Georgia at the presentation of the Tourism and Aviation Report organized by the Ministry of Economy.

“I am delighted to address you in relation to one of the key sectors of our country and its development. It is tourism and aviation. It is the most important direction of the Georgian economy, which makes its outstanding contribution to the development of our economy. Along with its economic impact, tourism has a tremendous political impact as well, as it promotes intensification of interaction between people, which is a significant factor in ensuring the security of Georgia.

It is also noteworthy that advancement of tourism is profoundly attuned with Georgian art, culture and traditions. It is common knowledge that hospitality is an integral part of our - Georgian - culture and identity. It has historically been our profound joy and pride to greet and welcome guests in Georgia, treating them with unparalleled hospitality. Tourism has been developing in the country at a very high speed in recent years. After being jeopardized by COVID, we pursued the right policies and tourism soon regained its momentum to reach a record-high indicator in 2023. Proceeds from tourism exceeded 4 billion USD last year, thus galloping ahead of the pre-pandemic indicator by 26%. Tourism employs people and boosts their income. Since 2012 hotels and restaurants have quadrupled their turnover; the number of employees in the sector increased from 28 000 to 40 000; their salaries and wages tripled.

The aviation industry was also advancing at a high rate. Namely, international airports of Georgia serviced a record-high 6 million passengers altogether. First time in history, Kutaisi International Airport welcomed 1.5 millionth passenger. In general, we have a well-grounded expectation to believe that 2024 will be further more successful. Namely, it is expected to see proceeds from tourism to exceed 4.5 billion USD this year, while 6.8 million passengers will be serviced at international airports of Georgia. You may well agree with me that these are impressive indicators. A number of significant projects are planned to further improve the tourism and logistic potential of our country. First and foremost, it is planned to develop the project of Tbilisi International Airport, which will also be a transit and logistics hub with state-of-the-art passenger and cargo terminals.

Also, cross-country traffic and passenger transportation between regions needs to be promoted. We continue incentivizing domestic flights, along with the construction and development of domestic airports. Namely, it is planned to build and fully modernize the International Airport of Telavi. Blueprints have already been presented to the general public. Also, it is planned to commission designs and construction of a new terminal of Mestia Airport. Work will be completed on the Master Plan of Kutaisi Airport this year and respective infrastructure works will commence within the year.

These are the key projects leading to the development of tourism and aviation in the country and ultimately to the economic growth and advancement of Georgia.

I am thrilled to be the first to share an important news with general public: for the first time in the history of Georgia and under the aegis of the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS) a Snowboard Junior World Championship will be held in Gudauri on April 6-7. I express gratitude to the team for this significant achievement. Georgia will host such an outstanding event for the global tourism sector as the World Tourism Day in 2024. It is yet another significant achievement for our country and I once again thank the team for it. Georgia will be hosting the leading leaders of the tourism and aviation sector and will be once again in the spotlight of international attention and media coverage. Besides, Georgia will host such a significant international forum for business tourism as the M&I 2024, which will engage the leading organizations of MICE businesses from Europe. This event will considerably boost the international rating of the country in the realm of MICE. In addition, a set of activities are planned together with the EU and Persian Gulf to aim at new destination markets, such as China, USA, India and others. These activities will increase the popularity of Georgia and significantly promote a further advancement of the tourism industry in Georgia.

We have a small, but very diverse, beautiful country. Thus, everything should be done to develop the new travel destinations in Georgia. Also, everything is done to schedule even more direct flights to Georgia from various countries. It is all done in a consistent manner on the grounds of a conceptualized policy as has been the case so far.

I wish to express gratitude to the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia (MESD) and personally Levan Davitashvili, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of MESD along with Mariam Kvrivishvili, Deputy Minister of MESD who is curating the tourism and aviation sector; every staffer of the MESD engaged in the development and advancement of the sector. These people have been doing their best for the development of the tourism and aviation industry of Georgia; they still do and I am confident that they will bring significant success to our country in future as well. I wish you every success and thank you for your time and attention”, - concluded Irakli Kobakhidze.