Georgia tourism statistics and what they mean for rental demand

What do tourism numbers say about rental demand?

They show strong but uneven demand. In 2025 Georgia recorded 7.8 million international travellers, 6.9 million visits by international visitors and a record USD 4.69 billion in travel revenue, and its airports handled 8.5 million passengers, 14.1% more than a year earlier. The first half of 2026 was weaker: traveller numbers fell 3.3%, mainly because fewer people came from countries affected by conflict in the Middle East, while visitors from the EU and the UK reached a record. Traffic recovered from June, and Galt & Taggart puts travel revenue for January to September 2026 at USD 3.7 billion, 2.5% more than a year earlier.

For an owner, three facts matter more than the totals. Batumi depends on one summer quarter far more than Tbilisi; the number of short-stay flats in Batumi is growing faster than the number of visitors; and long-term demand rests on residents and students rather than on tourists. This page puts the official figures side by side and explains what they mean for long-term and short-term letting.

Georgia's tourism in numbers

Different bodies count different things. The Georgian National Tourism Administration and the Interior Ministry count border crossings by travellers; Geostat surveys visitors and visits, including where they go and what they spend; the National Bank measures money spent. A traveller who crosses the border twice is two traveller entries but may be one visitor, so the figures never match exactly. Russia, Turkiye and Armenia were the three largest sources of visitors in 2025, with 23.2%, 16.9% and 11.9%.

Which visitors spend the most?

Counting heads and counting money give different rankings. Armenia sends about one visitor in eight but brings less than 4% of the revenue. Israel, by contrast, accounted for about 12.5% of revenue: by our rough calculation, dividing the National Bank's revenue by the tourism administration's 402,426 Israeli visits, an Israeli visit was worth about USD 1,460 in 2025, against an average of roughly USD 680 for all visits. Markets that spend more per trip, and that use hotels and rented flats rather than relatives' homes, matter more to owners of short-stay flats than their share of arrivals suggests.

2026 so far: a dip, then a recovery

Compared with 2025, traveller entries were down 1.1% in January to March and 4.9% in April to June; the tourism administration linked the fall to fewer arrivals from conflict-hit countries and related flight restrictions. Visits for tourism held up better, rising 0.1% over the half year to 2,272,964. The airport operator TAV reported that Middle Eastern traffic dropped from March and recovered from June: passengers at Tbilisi and Batumi together were 10% higher in July 2026 and 9% higher in August than a year earlier. Flights by Iranian airlines were suspended from 21 September 2026 after new US sanctions. Geostat's figures for the third quarter are not yet published.

Tbilisi and Batumi: how seasonal is demand?

Adjara received about four times as many visits in the summer quarter as in the first quarter of 2025; Tbilisi received about twice as many. A Batumi flat let by the night therefore earns most of its year in about ten weeks, while a Tbilisi flat has a steadier calendar. In the second quarter of 2026 visits fell about 5.7% in Tbilisi but only about 1.3% in Adjara, by our calculation.

Who stays in hotels and who rents flats?

Geostat counted 2,783 hotels and hotel-type establishments in 2025 with 54,340 rooms, and 6.2 million guests, 62.7% of them foreign. The largest group of foreign hotel guests was from Israel, with 555,400 check-ins, even though Russia, Turkiye and Armenia send far more visitors. Our reading, not an official finding, is that many visitors from neighbouring countries stay with friends and relatives or in rented flats; in the second quarter of 2026 visiting friends or relatives was the purpose of 25.6% of visits. Galt & Taggart's survey of international tourists in Adjara in 2024 found that 47% stayed in hotels and 53% in apartments, with Israelis mostly in hotels and Russians and Turks mostly in apartments.

Accommodation took 24.3% of foreign visitors' spending in the second quarter of 2026, about GEL 468 per visit. Domestic trips add little to paid demand: in 2025 Georgians spent only 6.1% of their travel budget on accommodation, because most travel to see family.

Hotels and short-stay flats: occupancy and rates

Georgia publishes no official occupancy rate for hotels or rented flats, so these figures come from banks' research teams and private data firms. The private firms disagree with each other: for Batumi, one counts 3,647 active listings, another 9,791, depending on how each defines an active listing. Use any single source for direction, not as a forecast for a particular flat.

Is supply growing faster than visitors?

In Batumi, yes. Galt & Taggart estimates that about 58,000 new apartments will be completed between 2025 and 2029, of which about 46,300 are designed for short-term letting, and that the gross yield on Batumi apartments fell from 8.8% in 2024 to 7.4% in 2025. Airbtics counted 45.36% more active short-stay listings in Batumi in 2025, against national growth of 6.2% in visits. When the number of flats grows several times faster than the number of guests, nightly rates and occupancy come under pressure, especially outside summer. In Tbilisi listings grew more slowly, by 24.24% in 2025 according to Airbtics, and demand is spread across the year.

Long-term rental demand: residents and students

• Foreign residents. The 2024 census counted 133,857 foreign citizens living in Georgia for more than 12 months, led by Russia (37,715), India (23,925) and Ukraine (11,542).
• Residence permits. In February 2026 the government reported 107,307 valid residence permits held by citizens of 164 countries.
• Students. Geostat counted 44,400 foreign students in the 2025-26 academic year, 19.7% more than a year earlier.
• Migration. Net migration in 2025 was positive, at 17,127 people.
• Rents. The rent component of Geostat's consumer price index was 8.4% higher in August 2026 than a year earlier.

These tenants rent for months or years, not nights, and they live mostly in Tbilisi, Batumi and the university towns. Their numbers move with migration rules, university admissions and events abroad, as the arrival and departure of Russians after 2022 showed.

What about the ski resorts?

No official visitor count for the 2025-26 winter was published that we could find. The last full season figure we found, from the Ministry of Economy, was 514,874 visitors to the four state ski resorts in 2017-18. The tourism administration's 2025 survey of foreign visitors counted 592,000 trips to Kazbegi, on the same road as Gudauri, but it does not report Gudauri or Bakuriani separately. Private data firms remain the main source for resort letting; see our comparison of Gudauri and Bakuriani.

How to use tourism data before you buy

1. Look at the quarter, not the year

   Check how many visits the city receives outside the summer quarter.

2. Follow the source markets

   Note which countries are growing and whether your building suits them: families, couples or business travellers.

3. Compare supply growth

   Weigh the growth in listings against the growth in visits.

4. Check flights

   New routes and suspended airlines change demand within a season.

5. Keep a long-let fallback

   Choose a flat that could also be let to a resident or a student.

Risks and exceptions

• Regional conflicts. Arrivals from some markets fell sharply in 2026.
• Seasonality. Almost half of Adjara's visits come in one quarter.
• New supply. Short-stay flats in Batumi are growing faster than visits.
• Data gaps. There is no official occupancy series.
• Flight changes. Routes and airlines can be suspended at short notice.

Frequently asked questions

How many tourists visit Georgia a year?

7.8 million international travellers and 6.9 million visits by international visitors in 2025.

Is tourism in Georgia growing in 2026?

Traveller numbers fell 3.3% in the first half, then recovered from June; revenue for January to September was 2.5% higher.

Where do most visitors come from?

Russia, Turkiye and Armenia; visitors from the EU and UK grew fastest in 2026.

How seasonal is Batumi?

About 48% of Adjara's 2025 visits came in July to September.

What is the occupancy of short-stay flats?

About 64% in Tbilisi and 54% in Batumi in private data for September 2025 to August 2026.

Do Georgians rent holiday flats?

Rarely; accommodation is about 6% of their travel spending.

Who rents long term?

Foreign residents, students and local families; 44,400 foreign students studied in Georgia in 2025-26.

Is there official hotel occupancy data?

No; Geostat publishes guests and rooms, not occupancy.

Sources

1. Inbound tourism statistics, 2025, Geostat (accessed 19 October 2026)
2. Inbound tourism statistics, first quarter of 2026, Geostat (accessed 19 October 2026)
3. Inbound tourism statistics, second quarter of 2026, Geostat, 30 July 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
4. Inbound tourism statistics, third quarter of 2025, Geostat (accessed 19 October 2026)
5. Hotels and hotel-type enterprises, 2025, Geostat, 26 August 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
6. Domestic tourism statistics, 2025, Geostat (accessed 19 October 2026)
7. Main results of the 2024 population census, Geostat (accessed 19 October 2026)
8. Foreign visitors spent GEL 15 billion in 2025 (Geostat), First Channel, 30 January 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
9. Tourism revenues and hotel performance (Galt & Taggart), International Investment, 30 January 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
10. Tourism in the first half of 2026 (tourism administration data), Georgia Today, 20 July 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
11. Arrivals to Georgia by market, first half of 2026, India Outbound, 4 August 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
12. Tourism revenue for January to September 2026 (Galt & Taggart), News.az, 17 October 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
13. Traffic results, August 2026, TAV Airports Holding, 10 September 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
14. Flights by Iranian airlines suspended in Georgia, Georgia Today, 21 September 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
15. Airport passengers in 2025 (Geostat), GBC, March 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
16. Branded hotel occupancy, first quarter of 2026 (TBC Capital), GBC, May 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
17. Tourism in Ajara, Galt & Taggart (accessed 19 October 2026)
18. Airbnb revenue in Batumi, Airbtics, updated 16 October 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
19. Airbnb revenue in Tbilisi, Airbtics, updated 16 October 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
20. Georgia short-term rental market report 2025, Airbtics, 22 January 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
21. Batumi supply and yields (Galt & Taggart), International Investment, 6 December 2025 (accessed 19 October 2026)
22. Sector snapshot: Batumi residential real estate, Investor.ge, 20 April 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
23. Residence permits held by foreigners, GBC, 18 February 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
24. Higher education in 2025-2026 (Geostat), Georgia Today, 27 February 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
25. Positive migration balance in 2025 (Geostat), Georgia Today, 24 April 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
26. Consumer prices in August 2026 (Geostat), Trend, 7 September 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
27. Visitors to mountain resorts, 2017-2018 season, First Channel, 2018 (accessed 19 October 2026)
28. Most visited destinations in 2025 (tourism administration survey), Georgia Today, 10 March 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)

Change log

• 19 October 2026 - Data page published from Geostat inbound, domestic and hotel statistics, National Bank revenue data, tourism administration releases, TAV, Galt & Taggart and Airbtics.