Ganarjiis_mukhuri_beach

The Black Sea coast is a popular destination in summer. Here Ganmukhuri.

TBILISI, DFWatch–The number of people who visited Georgia has increased by 26 percent in the first seven months of 2013 compared to the same period last year.

Giorgi Sigua, Chairman of the National Tourism Administration, said at a briefing that in the first seven months 2 797 910 foreigner visitors arrived to Georgia, which was 26 percent more than last year.

Turkey is where the highest number of visitors — 911 427 — come from, followed by Armenia with 620 213, and Azerbaijan with 550 543.

The number of visitors from Europe in the first two months was 2 115 144. This is a 27 percent increase.

In July, the number of foreigners who visited Georgia was 609 189. This is 16 percent more than in July, 2012 (527 006). The highest number of visitors came from Armenia, 162 592, followed by Turkey with 139 002 and Russia with 115 871.

According to the National Tourism Administration, 4 389 256 tourists visited Georgia last year. This year the administration expects to see more than 5 million tourists in total.