Opening of Tashkent-Tbilisi flight is expected to bring more Uzbek tourists to Georgia

AKIPRESS.COM - Opening of the direct flight between Tashkent and Tbilisi is expected to bring big inflow of tourists from Uzbekistan to Georgia, said Head of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of Georgia Shalva Alaverdashvili on Rustavi-2 channel.
Uzbekistan Airways will reportedly launch direct flights Tashkent-Tbilisi from July 16, 2019.
Alaverdashvili also denied that "Georgia's tourism sector depends 100% on Russia."
Earlier, Vladimir Putin has banned Russia's airlines from flying to Georgia on June 21, a day after a Russian lawmaker's visit to the country prompted violent clashes between protesters and police. According to the decree, Russian airlines will be banned from bringing Russian citizens to Georgia beginning on 8 July.
The suspension of flights is designed to put pressure on Georgia's tourism industry, which accounted for 7.6% of the country's GDP in 2018. More than 1.4 million Russians visited Georgia last year.
Alaverdashvili said he does not expect mass refusal of Russian tourists from traveling to Georgia after Putin's ban. "Maximum of 5-6% of the reservation was canceled after the ban was announced," he said.