OREANDA-NEWS. The National Tourism Administration of Georgia reported on its Facebook page that the outflow of Russian tourists from the republic would be compensated due to special marketing program for intensifying the tourist flow from other countries.

According to the agency, for the period from January to October 2019, the number of foreign tourists in Georgia increased by 6.8 %. As it follows from the publication, the National Tourism Administration has organized an active marketing campaign in a number of countries that show interest in Georgia as a tourist destination: the United States, the European countries, including the Baltic states, Saudi Arabia and Central Asian states.

It is noted that over the ten months of this year, Georgia was visited by a record 8 million foreigners, while the number of tourist visits compared to last year increased by 6 % and amounted to 4.2 million visits.

As it follows from the message, for the period from January to October this year, Russians made more than 1.3 million trips to Georgia, it is 6 % more than in the same period in 2018.

Nevertheless, in October 2019, the agency registered 118.2 thousand visits of Russian citizens to the country, which is 15.2 % less than in October last year. At the same time, the number of Russian tourists in October decreased by 26.2 % in comparison with with last year.

On July 8, 2019, Russia banned direct flights to Georgia. The reason for this decision was anti-Russian protests in the capital of Georgia Tbilisi. In October, the media reported about the resumption of flights, but the Federal Agency for Air Transport of Russia denied this information.