If tourism recovers at 30-35% of 2019 levels, it will be very good, - Kakha Samkurashvili, Senior Research Analyst at Galt & Taggart declares.
According to the Senior Research Analyst, there were positive expectations early this year, that it would be possible to recover at 40-50% of 2019 by 2021, but it seems that the forecast is not justified.
"The best thing this year is to wind up the sector and start some recovery so that the sector can learn to live with the changed situation. We do not expect that tourism will recover by 50-60% this year. If the sector returns at 30-35% of 2019 levels, it will be a very good figure," - said Kakha Samkurashvili.
He also noted that the country is unlikely to receive a large number of tourists from the EU or the Persian Gulf, so it is important to open land borders with neighboring states.
"This year we will not receive a large number of tourists from the EU, the Persian Gulf countries, etc. The EU visitor needs a long time to make a decision, as they are planning everything in advance. The second issue is that we cannot physically have the status of a well-vaccinated country. So, this also has a big impact. An important factor is the frequency of air flights, we cannot return to the pre-pandemic frequency yet. Recovery will not be as fast as closing, as this process is tied to the demand and it requires a long time," Samkurashvili said.
