Georgian Central Bank no longer considers Russians, Ukrainians who moved to country as tourists

The Central Bank of Georgia has decided not to take into account the expenses of Russians and Ukrainians who plan to stay in the country for more than a year when calculating tourism income.

According to the Georgian Central Bank, over 35 per cent of Russian citizens and 23.7 per cent of Ukrainian citizens plan to live in Georgia for more than a year. According to the methodology of the International Monetary Fund, they are considered residents of the country, Business Media Georgia reports.

According to the results of tourism calculations, excluding residents, tourists from Russia still rank first in terms of the number of funds spent on tourism in the first quarter of 2023 - they spent $266.4 million in the country.

In second place are the citizens of Türkiye with $96.3 million in spending. Without taking into account the European Union, which is the third largest spending country in the report of the Central Bank of Georgia, Israel ranks third with $60.8 million in spending, and fourth is Ukraine with $56.2 million.

Georgia's tourism revenue in the first quarter of 2023 doubled compared to the same period in 2022 and amounted to $795 million.