Epress.am News from Armenia
Visits to Georgia by foreign citizens in the first quarter of 2012 increased by 39.4% year-to-year, reaching 677,278, according to official figures released by the Interior Ministry on Apr. 2, reports Civil Georgia.
From Jan. to Mar. 2012, citizens from Turkey made up the largest share in total visits (14.7%), followed by citizens of Azerbaijan (10.7%), Armenia (6.8%) and Russia (2.6%).
In late February, Georgia unilaterally lifted visa rules for the Russian citizens. According to the Georgian Interior Ministry, the move was reflected in the increase of number of visits made by Russian citizens to Georgia in March — 6,192 visits in Mar. 2012 as compared to only 2,163 in Mar. 2011.
Visits from Iran, whose citizens also do not require a Georgian visa since January, almost doubled in the first quarter of 2012 to over 9,000.