Georgian tourism official: Russians canceled 60% of hotel bookings in Georgia

According to the founder and head of the Georgian Hotel and Restaurant Federation Shalva Alaverdashvili, the ban on direct air communication between Russia and Georgia had a tangible effect on the republic’s Black Sea resorts, where 80% of hotel bookings were already cancelled by Russian tourists.

“Sea resorts received the hardest blow: the share of cancelled bookings by Russian tourists reached 80%, the Adjara tourism administration reported. It should be noted that the situation is unfavorable in the rest of Georgia as well. We may say that in total Russians canceled up to 60% of hotel bookings across the country,” Alaverdashvili said. Mostly premium-class Russian tourists did not abolish their trips to Georgia, he specified.

According to the Georgian National Tourism Administration, the probable loss for the country’s economy from reducing the tourism flow from Russia will stand at about $710 million.

On June 21, Russian President Putin issued the order banning all Russian airlines from carrying out air flights (including commercial ones) from the territory of the Russian Federation to Georgia. This order came into force on July 8. On the same day the decision of the Russian Transport Ministry as of June 22 about the suspension of Georgian air companies’ flights to Russia also came into force.