156,737 Russian citizens arrived in Georgia in July of this year which was 2.32% less compared to the same period in 2019, before the pandemic, and 525% more compared to the figure of last year, the National Tourism Administration said on Tuesday. 

The agency said that in July 2019, 159,063 tourists arrived from Russia, and in 2020-21, due to pandemic restrictions, 4,191 and 25,059 visitors respectively. 

The total number of international tourist visits in July 2022 amounted to 1,668,983, while 2,344,329 tourists entered the country in January-July of this year in total. 

The opposition and local NGOs claimed that  240,000 Russian visitors arrived in Georgia over the past seven months, urging the Government to impose visa requirements for Russian and Belarus citizens to prevent security threats. 

For his part, the Govermnet slammed the opposition for “damaging the tourism sector” and “makinhg xenophobic statemmets”.