Thursday, August 22, 2019
In what will come as fresh lease of air to the tourism industry of Georgia, low-cost carrier Ryanair declared on Wednesday that it will start its operations in the country. In November the airline will introduce three routes: Tbilisi to Milan, Kutaisi to Bologna, and Kutaisi to Marseille. A fourth Tbilisi to Cologne route will kick off in April 2020.
The previous Soviet republic has seriously invested in setting up its tourism industry in the last decade, however the addition of the largest low-cost carrier of Europe is something of a milestone. As Skift reported in early July, anxieties with Russia leading to a flight ban mean that its biggest inbound market — accounting for 20 percent of arrivals — isn’t a particularly stable one. The tourism board’s constant initiations to court higher-spending travelers from Europe, the Middle East, and the U.S. will only be helped by Ryanair’s expansion. And judging strictly by Tbilisi’s fawning lifestyle media coverage, it’s already achieved the status of “it” destination.
“These four new routes … will further promote Georgian tourism and will deliver over 170,000 customers annually to/from two European countries to one of Europe’s fastest-growing tourism destinations,” Ryanair Chief Commercial Officer David O’Brien said. “We look forward to developing new Georgian traffic growth, new routes, and jobs in the coming years.”
Tags: Ryanair Airlines
