Association of Hotels and Restaurants of Georgia: If with the help of Armenia at least 100 thousand Russian tourists arrive in Georgia, the losses of the tourism sector will not be so significant

ArmInfo. In 2019, Georgia, somewhere in July, it was still waiting for about 1 million tourists from Russia. If with the help of Armenia, at least 100 thousand of them still arrive in  Georgia, the loss of the country's tourism sector will not be so significant. About this in The head of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of Georgia Shalva Alaverdashvili told reporters on June 28 in the fields of the Armenian-Georgian business forum.

According to Alaverdashvili, Georgia is one of the most popular destinations among Russian tourists. In 2018, about 1.3 million tourists from the Russian Federation rested here. "This provided the Georgian tourist sector with an income of $ 700 million or 20% of the total market. But, since the flow of Russian tourists increased from year to year, in 2019 we expected much more. And if from July 8 no one from the Russian Federation will not come to rest in Georgia, the losses will be about 750 US dollars. Our task is to minimize the damage to 250 million, "he explained.

As a result, according to the head of the Federation, many countries have called for spending their holidays in Georgia. In response to Russia's restrictions on air traffic on social networks in Georgia, a flash mob "Relax in Georgia" has spread, to which, in addition to the Baltic and Eastern European countries, New Zealand and Australia have responded. In this context, Shalva Alaverdashvili called on his Armenian colleagues not to hope for a tourist flow from Georgia itself, since the citizens of the republic, proceeding from patriotic considerations, will most likely prefer to spend their holidays in their native Sakartvelo this year.

At the same time, in order not to lose Russian tourists, the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of Georgia had previously proposed an alternative way of delivering Russians to rest - launching free bus routes from the airports of Baku, Yerevan and Turkish Trabzon.

In addition, there is already a preliminary agreement with some tour operators and hotels in Armenia so that they receive Russian tourists for a day or two, accommodate at very low rates and only then they are delivered to Georgia. One of the hotels in Yerevan has already given its consent.  According to Alaverdashvili, Georgian tour operators will try not to increase the price of the tour package, if they organize a shuttle from Yerevan to Tbilisi, and if tourists from Russia are traveling to Georgia in an Armenian hotel, Alaverdashvili said.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Transport announced the suspension of flights of Georgian airlines to Russia from July 8. Tour operators and agencies were recommended to refrain from selling vouchers to Georgia. Market participants have already confirmed the cancellation of programs and are actively working with tourists. They are either offered alternative directions, or they return the entire amount spent. From July 8, you can get to Georgia by plane only by connecting flights - for example, via Istanbul, Baku, Yerevan or Minsk. It is reported that Russian carriers may lose up to $ 60 million.

At present, Armenia is the only Armenian airline operating passenger flights from Armenia to Russia. She intends to start flights Yerevan-Tbilisi, providing the route Moscow-Yerevan-Tbilisi. The airline also applied for permission to operate flights to St.  Petersburg.