The number of international travelers declined by 93.1% in November compared to the same period of 2019, while the number of international visitors fell by 91.6% and the number of international tourists fell by 88.3%; The price changes in Adjara and Guria are the most representative of tourism’s decline. In November 2020, the year over year Hotel Price Index decreased by 45.8% in Guria and by 28.5% in Adjara. Hotel prices in other regions do not provide an accurate guidance of the situation in accommodation market due to the COVID-19 pandemic; The number of visits by domestic visitors in the third quarter of 2020 (Q3 of 2020) has declined by 5.6%, compared to the same period of 2019; The number of visits with the purpose of visiting friends or relatives has declined the most in Q3 of 2020, compared to the corresponding figure in 2019, having declined by 19.8%. Whereas, the number of visits with the purpose of visiting another house (cottage, etc.) has increased by 45.4% in Q3 of 2020, compared to Q3 of 2019. Perhaps, the main reason for these changes in the structure of the visit purpose is existing fears of traveling caused by the ongoing pandemic.

The number of international visitors declined by 92.9% in October compared to the same period of 2019, and the number of international tourists fell by 90%. Georgia experienced a fall of at least 90% in the number of foreign arrivals every month since April 2020, compared to the corresponding period of 2019; The price changes in Adjara and Guria are the most representative of tourism’s decline. In October 2020, the year over year Hotel Price Index decreased by 51% in Guria and by 27.2% in Adjara; The number of international visits to Georgia grew significantly over the period of 2015 to 2019, and this growth was mostly attributable to an increase in the number of visits for holiday, leisure and recreation purposes. However, due to safety concerns arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of visits in this category has been declining significantly, and this trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future; The number of business or professional visits, despite contributing only a modest share of the total visits, also registered significant growth, as it grew by an average of 11% year-on-year from 2015 to 2019.

The number of international travelers declined by 94.2% in September compared to the same period of 2019, while the number of inter- national visitors fell by 93.6% and the number of international tourists fell by 92.2%. Georgia experienced a fall of more than 90% in the number of foreign arrivals every month since April, compared to the corresponding period of 2019; In the first three quarters of 2020, revenues from international travel amounted to US$499 mln, which is 81% lower than for the same period of 2019; The price changes in Adjara, Guria, and Samtskhe-Javakheti are the most representative of tourism’s decline. In September 2020, the year over year Hotel Price Index decreased by 39.2% in Guria, 33.4% in Adjara, and 24.3% in Samtskhe-Javakheti; Looking at countries that have reopened tourism quickly with no restrictions, some have managed to recover a sizable portion of their arrivals, such as Albania, while others, like North Macedonia and Serbia, have not been so successful. Indeed, the decrease in the number of arrivals to the latter two countries has been comparable to that in Georgia, which has maintained significant travel restrictions.

The number of international travelers declined by 96.4% in August compared to the same period of 2019, while the number of international visitors fell by 96% and the number of international tourists fell by 95.4%; In the first 8 months of 2020, revenues from travel amounted to $483 mln, which is 78% lower than the same period in 2019; In Q2 2020, compared to Q2 2019, turnover of accommodations declined by 66%, and turnover of food facilities declined by 37%; In August 2020, compared to August 2019, yearly Hotel Price Index decreased by 32.1% in Guria and 21.7% in Adjara; In August 2020, compared to August 2019, the average price of guesthouses in Guria decreased by 58%, while the average price of 3-star hotels decreased by 35%; In August 2020, compared to August 2019, the average price of 4-star hotels decreased by 38%, while the average price of 5-star hotels decreased by 25%. The average prices of guesthouses and 3-star hotels registered a more modest decline.

The number of international travelers declined by 95.6% in July compared to the same period of 2019, while the number of international visitors fell by 94.8% and the number of international tourists fell by 93.5%; In July 2020, compared to July 2019, the average prices of 5-star hotels decreased by 23%, which is the highest decline among the categories of the hotels; In July 2020, the hotel prices have decreased in 8 regions (out of 11), compared to July 2019. The most hit regions are Guria (-38.1%), Adjara (-26.4%) and Samtskhe-Javakheti (-23.5%); Due to distorted price data, the declines in hotel prices illustrated by our analysis are underestimated. Moreover, the analysis in July can be deemed conclusive just for Guria, Adjara and Samtskhe-Javakheti.

Using various assumptions, in Q3 of 2020, the maximum capacity of domestic tourism expenditures is to replace 33% of revenues from international tourism;  Using various assumptions, total revenues generated from tourism (both, domestic and international) in 2020 could amount to $1730 mln, which is 44.1% of the corresponding figure in 2019; Domestic tourism in Georgia reopened on June 15th, while the reopening of borders is postponed to the near future; The number of international travelers declined by 94.6% in May compared to the same period of 2019, while the number of inter- national visitors fell by 94.1% and the number of international tourists fell by 93.8%; In June 2020, hotel prices do not provide an accurate guidance of the situation in accommodation market due to the fact that the market for accommodations is just starting to recover from the COVID-19-induced crisis.

The Government of Georgia introduced various support measures in order to alleviate the burden of the COVID-19 crisis on tourism industry in the period between March and May of 2020. The Government of Georgia, namely GNTA, operated 84 hotels during the lockdown, which served 19 002 Georgian citizens as a quarantine zone. The total cost of providing quarantine zones from the budget amounted 32.5 mln GEL. The Government of Georgia, developed mandatory recommendations for prevention of the spread of COVID-19 on June 5th. In May 2020, hotel prices do not provide an accurate guidance of the situation in accommodation market due to the fact that the market for accommodations is non-existent due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Number of international travelers decreased by 612 273 (-94.5%), compared to the same period previous year, while number of visitors decreased by 515 440 (-93.8%) and the number of tourists decreased by 321 643 (-92.3%); Based on GNTA database, in an average registered accommodation facility in Georgia, there are 15 rooms and 37 beds. There are on average 23 rooms and 55 beds in Adjara (highest) and 6 rooms and 15 beds in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti (lowest). There are on average 2.4 beds per one room in Georgia. This ratio equals 2.24 in Tbilisi (lowest) and 2.91 in Racha (highest);  Hotel prices do not provide an accurate guide of situation in accommodation market due to the fact that the market for accommodations is almost non-existant due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Number of international travelers in Georgia decreased by 385 846 (-62.3%), compared to the same period previous year, while number of visitors decreased by 297 119 (-79%) and the number of tourists decreased by 184 320 (-56.1%). Net revenues from exporting tourism services in 2019 amounted 3267.7 mln USD, which accounts for 18.4% of Georgian GDP. In March 2020, compared to February 2020, hotel price index increased by 5.1%, which can be explained by a market failure. In March 2020, compared to the same period of 2019, hotel price index decreased by 12.9%. The average price of 5-star hotels decreased by 43% Year over Year (YoY), while price for 4-star hotel fell by 18.1%, and for 3-star hotels and guesthouses by 5.8% and 3.3% respectively.

In February 2020 compared to February 2019, International visitor trips decreased by 0.6%. Among them, the number of tourists increased by 4%. On January 29th, Georgia suspended direct flights from China due to COVID-19, as a result, in February 2020, number of visitors from China decreased by 59.5% compared to February 2019. In February 2020, compared to January 2020, hotel price index decreased by 23.2%. In February 2020, compared to the same period of 2019, hotel price index decreased by 14.6%. In terms of regions, the prices decreased the most in Adjara (-28.8%), followed by Guria (-25.5%), Samtskhe-Javakheti (-16.9%) and Tbilisi (-11.6%).