Epress.am News from Armenia
In 2011, the number of visitors to Georgia, as compared to 2010, increased by 39% and amounted to 2,820 million people, reports the Georgian National Tourism Agency.
The country with the most visitors to Georgia was Turkey at 738,136 people, a 38% increase compared to 2010. In second place was Azerbaijan at 714,427 people (an increase of 43% as compared to the previous year), while Armenia came in third at 699,391 people (an increase of 28%).
Surprisingly, in 2011, the number of visitors from Russia, which severed diplomatic ties with Georgia in 2008, increased by 63% and amounted to 278,501 people. However, the country with the highest increase from the previous year of visitors to Georgia was Iran — the 60,193 tourists from Iran in 2011 resulted in a 182% increase compared to 2010.
From European countries, 906,632 people visited Georgia in 2011, a 35% increase from 2010; from CIS countries, there were 1,788 million (a 39% increase); and from the US, 28,856 visitors (an 18% increase), the News Georgia agency reported.