Georgia's Q3 Travel Revenue Rises 11.9% to $1.86bn

Georgia earned $1,864.4 million from international travel in the third quarter of 2026, 11.9% more than a year earlier, according to National Bank of Georgia (NBG) data published on 20 October. Travel revenue for the first nine months of the year reached $3,796.1 million, up 4.4%.

The gap between those two growth rates shows how much the summer season carried the year. By CBJ's calculation from the NBG figures, travel income in the first half came to about $1.93 billion, roughly 2% less than in the same period of 2025. Separate visitor data had pointed the same way: spending by foreign visitors fell 13.3% in the second quarter as arrivals dropped 5.2%, CBJ reported earlier this month.

The third quarter alone supplied almost half of the nine-month total. For the whole of 2025, income from international travel reached $4.69 billion, a 6% increase on the previous year, according to NBG data published in January.

Russian and European visitors lead the gains

Revenue from Russian visitors rose 32.3% to $334.2 million in the quarter, more than the $310.2 million that came from European Union countries and the United Kingdom, which the NBG reports as one group. Receipts from that group rose 30.2% and made up 16.6% of the total. Revenue from Israeli visitors increased 24.8% to $234.9 million, Azerbaijan's grew 18.6% to $78.8 million and Ukraine's climbed 52.5% to $68.4 million.

The Russian figure is a reversal. In the fourth quarter of 2025, income from Russian visitors fell 23.7% year on year, while revenue from the EU and the UK rose 26.6% to $145.2 million, according to the NBG data.

Middle East markets weaken

Revenue from Iran fell 21.3% to $33.8 million and revenue from Saudi Arabia declined 31.9% to $58.5 million. The NBG reported the declines against the backdrop of the war in the Middle East, according to Georgia Today.

Air links with Iran narrowed late in the quarter. Iranian airlines sanctioned by the United States operated their last flights to Georgia on 20 September, Georgia Today reported, citing RFE/RL, after the Civil Aviation Agency said on 10 September that Georgia would act in "full compliance with the international sanctions regime". The Georgian National Tourism Administration counted 29,397 visitors from Iran in the first half of 2026, 48.7% fewer than a year earlier.

Why it matters

For hotel groups, retailers, airlines and the banks that lend to them, the quarter shows demand moving between markets rather than shrinking. Spending from the EU and the UK, Israel and Ukraine grew quickly in the quarter, while Iranian and Saudi demand fell with the war and the sanctions on Iranian carriers. Businesses that built capacity around travellers from the Middle East face the sharpest adjustment.

The rebound in Russian spending cuts both ways. It adds revenue, but it raises exposure to a market where trading conditions can change quickly. Russia's consumer protection agency, Rospotrebnadzor, suspended imports from seven Georgian companies, among them Tbilvino and Nabeghlavi, with effect from 9 October, describing the step as a temporary sanitary measure. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the restrictions on Georgian beverages were targeted and had no political basis, Georgia Today reported on 22 October. CBJ reported the suspension on 13 October.

The wider economy is supportive. The IMF raised its 2026 growth forecast for Georgia to 7.2% and projected 5.7% for 2027. Subir Lall, Deputy Director of the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia Department, said Georgia had benefited from investment, tourism and certain trade flows linked to the Russia-Ukraine war, and that an end to hostilities would create investment opportunities and more avenues for growth, Georgia Today reported on 15 October. The World Bank lifted its 2026 forecast for Georgia to 7% this month, CBJ reported.

What to watch

• Official visitor data for the third quarter, which will show whether arrivals and spending per trip recovered from the second-quarter fall.
• Fourth-quarter revenue from Russia, which starts from a low base after the 23.7% drop in the same period of 2025.
• Whether flights by Iranian carriers resume, and how Saudi and other Gulf demand responds to the war in the Middle East.
• Whether spending from the EU and the UK keeps up the pace of 26.6% growth in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 30.2% in the third quarter of 2026.