OREANDA-NEWS. According to estimates of the Georgian division of the international organization Transparency International, the total losses of the Georgian economy in the event of a complete cessation of the arrival of Russian tourists in the country will amount to about $ 100 million. According to Beso Namchavadze, an economist at Transparency International Georgia, such losses would be if, along with passenger traffic, Russia closes for tourists and the opportunity to come to Georgia across the land border.

At the same time, Namchavadze believes that the losses will not become critical for the economy of Georgia, since they can be compensated by tourists from Europe. “We must be activated in other areas. If before our tourism department Russia was considered a strategic market - there was a lot of advertising in this direction, now this resource should be distributed to other countries”, Namchavadze said in an interview with Georgian television.

On June 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin, by his decree, banned Russian airlines from July 8 to carry out “air transportation of citizens from the territory of the Russian Federation to the territory of Georgia”. Later, the Ministry of Transport said that from the same day Georgian airlines would be prohibited from carrying out flights to Russia.

According to the sources of Kommersant, due to the ban on flights, Georgia will lose at least 150,000 Russian tourists in 2018 — 155,000 passengers won't be able to use the tickets purchased, and another 25,000 will have to return before the ban begins. A newspaper source in the tourism industry added that carriers will have to spend 2.3–3 billion rubles to return funds for tickets.