On June 21, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree banning Russian airlines from flying to Georgia from July 8 in response to anti-Moscow rallies in Tbilisi.
Although the most of the Russian tourists come to Georgia by land and via indirect flights, it is expected that the number of tourist from Russia will decrease in the current year.
In the first week of July, before the sanction entered in force, 50 030 Russian tourists entered Georgia, which is 4.1% decrease compared to the same period of the previous year – according TBC bank report.
By the end of July, the number of Russian visitors has decreased by more than 10% in Tbilisi Airport, by more than 13% in Batumi Airport and Kutaisi Airport the number of visitors from Russia increased by 34.8%.
In the first week of July, the number of tourists who came by land reduced by 1.6%.
As for the second week of July, according to TBC Bank data, the number of Russian tourists decreased by 21.4%. The number of visitors using direct flights decreased by 78%. The number of Russian tourists coming via land was also decreased by 1.7%.
According to TBC, despite the ban on direct flights from Russia, many Russian tourists come to Georgia via ondirect flights. In the first two weeks of July, the number of total visitors to Georgia was increased by 3.2%, compared to the same period of 2018.
