Within the framework of each event, in specially designated promotional areas, five types of Georgian wine from three different companies were presented for tasting.The cycle of Georgian wine promotional tastings, organized by “Saperavi Brothers,” began in July and continues through the month of December.Events of this format are consumer-oriented, and their objective is to diversify export markets for Georgian wine and to support the growth of sales.The United States of America represents one of the strategic export markets for Georgian wine. Since 2013, targeted marketing activities implemented with the support of the National Wine Agency have significantly contributed to increasing both the awareness of Georgian wine and its exports to the U.S.In the United States, the National Wine Agency carries out the Georgian wine marketing campaign in cooperation with the leading American marketing company “Colangelo & Partners.” Within the framework of the campaign, tasting seminars are held in various U.S. cities for wine professionals and representatives of the wine trade sector; Georgian wine is presented at international exhibitions; and wine tours to Georgia are organized for media representatives, sommeliers, and sales professionals, which contributes to better awareness and promotion of Georgian wine in the American market.At the same time, in order to promote Georgian wine, the partners of the National Wine Agency include American importing companies “A.G. Global Trade LLC,” “Saperavi Brothers,” “Vinoveli Inc,” “Corus Systems Inc,” “Georgian House of Greater Washington LLC,” as well as the marketing company “Big Sky Ranch Inc.”

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The Mountain Trails Agency (M.T.A.), part of Georgia’s Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, has announced that the Kokhta Plateau cable car and piste will be the first to open this season, operating daily from 10:00 to 17:00.According to M.T.A., artificial snow-making operations are in full swing at Bakuriani’s Didveli and Mitarbi ski areas, with both scheduled for a phased opening of the pistes from December 27.As for Gudauri, Mestia, and Goderdzi resorts, cable car operations are scheduled to commence from December 27, whilst ski pistes will open in phases according to weather conditions and snow cover.“Gudauri, the country’s largest ski resort, will activate six of its cable cars on December 27: Pirveli, Soliko, Gudaura, Kobi, Firni, and Truso. Pistes will then open progressively as snow cover permits, with artificial snow-making continuing in parallel.In Svaneti, the Zuruldi cable car at Hatsvali ski area will also begin operations on December 27. Both Hatsvali and the neighbouring Tetnuldi resort will open their pistes in phases, depending on weather conditions and snow depth. Meanwhile, Goderdzi resort will launch its Zanka cable car on the same date,” states the press release from the Mountain Trails Agency of Georgia’s Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.Season pass holders and day visitors to Bakuriani will be able to purchase lift tickets from December 20 at the Kokhta ticket office. Online bookings will become available from December 23 through multiple platforms, including TKT.GE, BILETEBI.GE, SKIPASS.GE, Super App, and MOUNT App. All platforms will offer tickets for Gudauri, Bakuriani, Mestia, and Goderdzi resorts across various categories.“The 2025–2026 winter season holds particular significance for the Mountain Resorts Development Agency, as Georgia will host the Freeride World Tour for the third time. The event will take place in Svaneti, at Tetnuldi, from February 22 to 28 inclusive (subject to weather conditions), featuring 50 of the world’s elite freeriders.Georgia joins an exclusive group of just six countries, alongside France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, and the United States, to have secured hosting rights for the Freeride World Tour.“Hosting this event is of paramount importance for raising the international profile of Georgia’s mountain resorts and advancing winter sports tourism,” the M.T.A. stated.“In recent years, Georgia has successfully hosted World Cup stages in ski cross, snowboard cross, and moguls. The Freeride World Tour will once again place our mountain and ski resorts firmly on the map for winter sports enthusiasts worldwide,” stated the Mountain Trails Agency of Georgia’s Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.

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The list of countries is as follows: the USA, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, China, Japan, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, Denmark, South Korea, Norway, Poland, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Brazil, Armenia, Uzbekistan.During the same period, 18 wine tours were held in Georgia with the participation of foreign wine professionals, within the framework of which Georgian wines were tasted on site by wine masters, experts, sommeliers, and representatives of the commercial sector from Germany, Japan, China, Poland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland and the United States of America.Within the framework of the State Program for the Co-financing of Marketing Expenses, in 2025, a total of 692,969 GEL was provided as co-financing to 9 wine companies.Co-financing of marketing expenses is received only by those companies that carry out exports to various countries of the world (except the CIS and GUAM countries), in priority markets.It is also noteworthy that within the framework of the State Program for the Promotion of Georgian Wine Products on the Local Market, wine exhibitions, competitions and festivals were held throughout Georgia, which serve the promotion of Georgian wine, the development of wine tourism potential, and the growth of wine consumer culture.During the reporting period, 37 exhibitions-festivals were held in Georgia.The above-mentioned activities are carried out within the framework of the “State Program for the Promotion of Georgian Wine”, which this year was set at 17.4 million GEL and exceeds the budget of this program of the previous year by 1.4 million GEL.

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During this period, the average monthly number of visitors declined by 5.7 per cent, and the total number of visits was 0.9 per cent lower than in the same period of the previous year.Data from GeoStat indicates that the average monthly number of tourist visits by Georgian residents was 799,900 in the third quarter of this year, a decrease of 6.9% compared to the same period last year.The majority of visitors, 36.3%, belonged to the 31-50 age group, while women accounted for 57.8% of all visitors.Furthermore, according to the agency’s survey, 38.7% of visitors are residents of Tbilisi, followed by 15.4% from Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi, and Kvemo Svaneti regions, 9.6% from the Adjara Autonomous Region, with the remaining regions contributing smaller shares.In the third quarter of 2025, nearly half of all visits, 49.3 per cent, were made for the purpose of visiting friends and relatives.During this period, the Imereti region received the highest number of visits, averaging 352,300 per month, followed closely by Tbilisi, with an average of 307,000 visits per month.The total expenditure on visits during the third quarter amounted to GEL 399.5 million, representing a 2.8% decrease compared to the same period in 2024. Additionally, the average expenditure per visit fell by 1.9%, reaching GEL 229.1.

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Of this number, visits abroad by Georgian resident visitors amounted to 599.7 thousand, which is 0.6% less than in the same period of 2024.412.6 thousand tourist-type visits were made abroad by Georgian resident visitors, which is 2.6% more than in the same period of the previous year.The majority of visits (45.9%) were made by Georgian resident visitors aged 31-50, and the number of visits made by women accounted for 47.6% of the total number of visits.In the third quarter of 2025, the largest share of visits (36.1%) was made to visit friends/relatives.According to Geostat, the majority of visits were made to Turkey and the Russian Federation, with 213.6 thousand and 113.7 thousand visits, respectively.The average number of nights spent during visits in the third quarter of 2025 was 7.90, which is 0.5% more than the figure recorded in the third quarter of 2024 (7.86 nights). 97.8% of visits were repeat visits.Expenditures incurred during visits in the third quarter of 2025 amounted to ₾699.9 million, which is 3.6% more than in the same period of the previous year. The average cost per visit increased by 4.1% compared to the third quarter of 2024 and amounted to 1,167.2 GEL.

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The number of outbound visits by Georgian visitors from above-mentioned figure amounted to 564.3 thousand, 0.4% higher compared to the same period of 2024.Outbound visitors made 385.8 thousand tourist-type visits, which is 7.1% higher compared to the same period of the previous year.The majority of outbound visits, 48.3%, were made by the visitors of age group 31-50. The number of visits made by women equaled 46.7% of the total number of visits.In the II quarter of 2025 the purpose of the majority of outbound visits, 34.9%, was visiting friends/relatives.In the II quarter of 2025 the average number of nights spent during the visits equaled 6.4 nights, which is 2% higher than the same figure of the II quarter of 2024 (6.3 nights). 98.2% of outbound visits was repeating visit.The expenditures during the visits made in the II quarter of 2025 equaled 583 million GEL. This indicator is 1.9% lower compared to the same period of the previous year. Average expenditure per visit decreased by 2.3% compared to the II quarter of 2024 and amounted to 1,032 GEL.

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The number of visits by international visitors from above-mentioned figure amounted to 1.6 million, 7% higher compared to the same period of 2024.In the II quarter of 2025 the number of international visitors equaled 1.4 million, which is 8.1% higher compared to the same period of the previous year.In the reporting period, international visitors made 1.3 million tourist-type visits, which is 10.7% higher compared to the same period of the previous year.80.1% of international visitors were only tourists. The share of only excursionists amounted to 15.8%, while 4.2% of visitors were both tourists and same-day visitors.In 2Q2025 the largest number of visitors (309.4 thousand visitors), amounting to 22.4 percent of the total number of visitors, was from Russian Federation. Turkey was on thesecond place with 17.6% share and Armenia was on the third place with 10.8% share.The largest number of visits were made by the citizens of Russian Federation (361.8 thousand), Turkey (308.3 thousand) and Armenia (210.0 thousand).The majority of visitors (46.5 percent) were from the age group of 31-50 and the number of women equaled 41.8 percent of the total number of visitors.In 2Q2025 the purpose of the majority of inbound visits (49.4 percent) was holiday, leisure and recreation.The majority of visits were made in Tbilisi and Adjara A/R, 928.3 thousand and 629.8 thousand, respectively. The chart below illustrates the distribution of visits by the visited regions.In the II quarter of 2025 the average number of nights spent during the visits equaled 5.30 nights, which is 4.7% higher than the same figure of the II quarter of 2024 (5.06 nights). 78.1% of visits was repeating visit.The expenditures during the visits made in the II quarter of 2025 equaled 3.5 billion GEL. The indicator is 0.6% higher compared to the same period of the previous year. Average expenditure per visit decreased by 6% compared to the II quarter of 2024 and amounted to 2,116.8 GEL.

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The contribution of visitors in 6 months of 2025 is 1.972 billion USD (H1/2024 – $1.898 billion)The growth is largely due to the increase in spending by visitors from neighboring republics (excluding Russia), Israel and EU countries.Spending by citizens from neighboring Turkey increased in Q2 2025 (Q1/2025 – $107 million, Q2/2025 – $151 million), although overall, in the 2nd quarter, it is down 10% year-on-year.The annual decline in spending by Russian visitors to Georgia is reaching 20%, which is an effect of statistical methodology. Russians, as well as Belarusians and Ukrainians, who have been living in our country for more than 1 year (or if they intend to stay for more than 1 year), are no longer classified as visitors and are transferred to the resident category (according to the IMF methodology. As of 01.07.2025, such a contingent accounts for up to 21% of visitors from Russia, 20.1% of Ukrainian visitors and 15.3% of Belarusians living in Georgia.The statistics of the National Bank of Georgia do not include cases of travelers from “other countries”, including China and other Asian countries. Only tour operators and hotel owners talk about the replacement of desirable tourists with less desirable ones, the radical change of the market and the oddities of this year's season. On TV Levan Dadvan, the owner of one of the hotels in Mestia (“Lahili”), said that he had to change the menu. He was forced to add a large amount of rice. Unlike Europeans, who are fascinated by Georgian culture and cuisine, participate in ethnotours, and engage in other traditional activities, the Chinese are not at all interested in the Svanetian Tower, a unique museum exposition preserved by the Svaneti population and preserved for centuries, not even chvishtari and kubdari. Most of them even refuse breakfast and are satisfied with the choice of the market. Basically, as Dadvani said, they eat noodles and quick-cooking soups.Visitor spending by country ($ million)

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The increase in visitors was mainly driven by increased interest from Russia, Azerbaijan, the European Union, Armenia and Asian markets, including India, Israel and China. In addition, the number of visitors decreased from Turkey, Kazakhstan and Iran. The growing flows from the European Union are related to increased air traffic from Tbilisi to Europe.Galt & Taggart writes that in 2Q25, the high growth rate of visitors was maintained, influenced by the June war between Israel and Iran, despite a slowdown in visitor growth from Israel and a decrease in visits from Iran.In total, the number of international travelers in the first half of 2025 amounted to 2.8 million (+4.6% y/y), of which the number of tourists was 2.3 million (+6.9% y/y), and the number of same-day visitors was 0.5 million (+4.2% y/y).The Investment Company writes that in 2Q25, Georgia received $1.1 billion in revenue from tourism, which is a 5% increase compared to the previous year. The main source of growth was the European Union (+26% y/y), which is related to increased tourist flows. In addition, revenues decreased from Russia (-20.5% y/y) and Turkey (-10.7% y/y).According to Galt & Taggart, the decrease in tourism revenues from Russia is likely related to a change in the profile of visitors, long-term visitors (digital nomads, migrants) were replaced by relatively short-term visitors, whose average spending in 2Q25 was lower.In total, tourism revenues in the first half of 2025 amounted to $2 billion (+3.8% y/y), which was associated with increased revenues from the European Union, Israel, Azerbaijan and Asian markets.Galt & Taggart forecasts that tourism revenues will reach $4.5 billion in 2025, however, if the dynamics of 2Q25 continue, tourism revenues are forecast to reach $4.6 billion.

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As of the document, the monthly average number of visitors has decreased by 1.2 percent and the number of visits decreased by 3.1%, compared to the respective period of the previous year.In 1Q2025 the monthly average number of tourist visits of Georgian residents amounted to 623.6 thousand, which is 9.4% lower than the corresponding indicator of the previous year.The majority of visitors, 36%, were from the age group of 31-50 and the number of women equaled 55% of the total number of visitors.According to the survey results, 35.6% of visitors are the residents of Tbilisi, 15.6% — Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region, 9.1% — Adjara A/R, 9.1% — Kvemo Kartli region, while the rest of the regions are represented by the relatively lower shares.In 1Q2025, the main purpose of the majority of visits (53.6%) was visiting friends/relatives.In the reporting period majority of the visits were made in Tbilisi (on average 378.2 thousand visits per month) and Imereti region (on average 328.4 thousand visits per month). 

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