The total expenditure of domestic visitors in Georgia in Q2 2021 amounted to GEL 610 million, which is an impressive 70.7% higher than in the corresponding period of 2019, and 128.1% higher than in Q2 2020.
In the first quarter of 2021, the total number of domestic visits within Georgia amounted to 3.7 million, which was 18.8% higher compared to the corresponding quarter of 2020 and 12.1% higher than in 2019. At the same time, in the second quarter of 2021 the number of domestic visits increased markedly and reached 4.2 million, which was 27% higher than the same period in 2019 and more than double the level of 2020, reads the recent report of PMCG on Georgian Tourism sector in October 2021.
There have also been some changes in the breakdown of travel purposes of domestic visits throughout the reporting period. Still, “visiting relatives/friends” has remained the category with the highest share of total visits. Nevertheless, the share of this category showed a significant year-over-year decline throughout 2020 which was attributed to the imposed lockdown measures and traveler hesitancy. In the second quarter of 2021, its share was 47.0%, which is 3.4 percentage point (pp) lower than for the first half of 2019.
Moreover, the share of “recreation” in this breakdown demonstrated a significant decrease after the third quarter of 2020. In Q4 of 2020 the share of “recreation” decreased by 12.0pp (from 15.2% to 3.2%) compared to Q3 of the same year, partly explained by seasonality and partly by the restrictions imposed in Q4. In 2021, there has been a slight increase in the share of recreation in total domestic visits, reaching 7.0% in Q2 of 2021, which is 1.5pp higher compared to corresponding period of 2020 and 1.8pp lower compared to Q2 of 2019.
The expenses of domestic visitors throughout the reporting period showed some variability. However, compared to 2019 and Q1-Q3 2020 levels, the expenses throughout the period of Q4 2020-Q2 2021 have been significantly higher, which can partly be explained by inflationary trends, considering that most such expenses are on shopping, food and drink, and transport, prices for which have all increased in the national currency since the onset of the pandemic. The total expenditure of domestic visitors in Q2 2021 amounted to GEL 610 million, which is an impressive 70.7% higher than in the corresponding period of 2019, and 128.1% higher than in Q2 2020.
Finally, considering the positive trends in the number of domestic visits and the increasing total expenses of domestic visitors, the authors of the report conclude that for Georgia domestic tourism has served as a buffer against plummeting foreign tourism, which is only beginning to recover.
