The Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze revealed the losses of the Georgian tourism sector following the Russia imposed flight ban to the public, reported RIA novosti.

“The steps we have taken give us grounds to inform that we will definitely return the growth dynamics to the tourism sector that we had. According to the data for July, the tourism sector suffered a damage of up to $ 60 million, but a very good trend has taken off in June in the Adjara region, when compared with similar data from last year, tourism there grew by 40%,” the government’s press service quoted Bakhtadze.

The Georgian National Tourism Administration came to a similar conclusion by presenting their data from July 2019. The tourism revenues totaled $375 million in the country, which is $58 million less than in the previous year.  Yet, Georgia's tourism sector grew by 5.8% in July and amounted to 1,099,474 visitors. The income received from Russian citizens alone was about $44 million, but their number decreased by 6.4%. There has been an increase in the number of tourists from other countries, like Saudi Arabia, Israel, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

The demand for airline tickets from Russia to Tbilisi and Batumi fell by 75% compared to the same period last year, as a result of which Georgia fell from third to twentieth place in the ranking of destinations among Russian tourists. The ticket prices from Russia to Georgia also increased by 55%. In 2018, every fifth tourist (21%) in Georgia was from Russia.

It is estimated that Georgia will suffer a loss of about $200-300 million due to the imposed sanctions (Caucasus Watch reported).