Travel Behavior of the Georgian Residential Population
According to 2016 research, the number of domestic visits within Georgia amounted to 12.96 million. The majority of visits were from Tbilisi (28.3%). Most visits were to large cities and average trip length was two nights. Visitors from Tbilisi tend to stay for longer periods (four nights, on average), while other visitors spend two nights away. Visiting friends or relatives was the reason for the majority of domestic visits (52.5%). Shopping was the main reason for 12.3 % of visitors,11.1% – for health and medical care, 9% for leisure and relaxation. Other
frequent purposes were: visits to a second home (6.8%) and business and professional purposes (4.7 %).
The majority – 24.4% of total domestic trips were made to the capital, followed by 7.6% to Kutaisi and 7.5% to Batumi. Other popular destinations were: Rustavi (2.7%), Mtsheta (2%), Gori(1.9%), Zestafoni (1.7%), and Zugdidi (1.7%). Among the regions the most popular places were
Imereti, Ajara and Kakheti with 20.6%, 10.9% and 7.8% of total domestic visits, respectively.
59.5% of domestic travelers stayed in the private homes of friends and relatives. This is a consequence of the fact that majority of domestic trips served visiting friends and relatives. 25.6% stayed in their own homes, while 4.9% stayed in a rented apartment.
Total expenditure by domestic visitors during the estimation period was 1.6 billion GEL; average
expenditure per visit was 125 GEL. The largest shareof visitors’ expenditures, 28.6%, was registered on served food and drinks.