Fifty percent of construction permits granted in the first three months of this year are located in the capital city of Tbilisi, according to new data released by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (GeoStat).

A total of 2,052 permits were granted between January and March alone, with 7.8 percent more square meters planned, compared to the same period last year. Nearly three-quarters of the permits were issued in just three regions of Georgia: half in Tbilisi, 11.1 percent in Adjara and 10.5 percent in Kvemo Kartli. Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti and Guria, two of the most sparsely-populated areas of Georgia, are home to only 0.3 percent and 1.6 percent of the planned projects, respectively.

As tourism to Georgia has blossomed in recent years, Tbilisi has subsequently exploded.

Andrea Basilaia, Head of Economic Development for the Tbilisi City Council, spoke to a group of British investors last October about the city’s economic potential.

He told investors that 7.9 million international tourists came to Georgia in 2017, 58 percent of which visited Tbilisi, yielding US$2.7 billion in revenue.

“Tourism is one of the main pillars at around 7% of Georgia’s GDP,” Basilaia noted. “The potential still big, so we’ll be developing new tourist attractions, as well as promoting and developing tourist infrastructure.”

He mentioned projects such as the renovation of the Tbilisi TV Broadcasting Tower, the proposed Tbilisi Theme Park near the Tbilisi Sea and Radio City, to be built on the site of a former Soviet radio factory north of the city.

source: Georgiatoday.ge by Lucy Papachristou