The FINANCIAL — Lifting the need for a visa to Brazil seems to make no difference to Georgian travellers. The high cost of the ticket, which is more than the price of a full package trip to Europe, long duration of the journey, and need to change flights twice – are the main factors believed to be behind the lack of demand for Brazil as a destination among Georgian travellers.
“Lifting the visa requirements is a really welcoming fact, but it is the least important factor involved in encouraging the activity of Georgian travellers in Brazil. The ticket price alone is so high that reducing the cost of a visa will not make any difference,” said Levan Elizbarashvili, Director at the Georgian Avia Service Agency (GASA), general commercial agent of Pegasus Airlines to Georgia.
Like Elizbarashvili, Ella Karapetyan, Director at BusinessTravelCom, travel agency, said that since lifting the visa requirement for travel to Brazil, the number of Georgian travellers to this country will not increase significantly at all.
“Getting a visa has never been a big issue for Georgians, as it was not a big deal. The flights’ ticket prices were the main factor that hindered Georgian travel activity in Brazil,” said Karapetyan.
The average price per round trip ticket to Basil is approximately EUR 950. This is what matters most for Georgians when choosing a destination for a vacation,” Karapetyan said. In her words, for this same amount or even less, the agency offers full, all-inclusive packages for a week’s trip to some of the top destinations in Europe.
On 11 March, 2015, the Government of Georgia and the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil signed an agreement on the partial exemption of holders of ordinary passports from visa requirements.
The agreement allows ordinary passport holders to travel to each other’s countries for tourism or business purposes. More specifically, following the agreement’s entry into force, Georgian citizens may enter, transit through and stay in the Brazilian territory for 90 days in any 180-day period. The countdown starts on the first day of staying in the country. The same rule will apply to Brazilian citizens.
“Simplification of travel to the world’s leading economy – Brazil – will contribute to further deepening of mutually beneficial cooperation and will promote Georgia’s interests in this economically important region. As we know, business links, exchanges of visits and personal contacts give a powerful impetus to the development of bilateral and interregional cooperation. It is also noteworthy that the execution of the agreement coincides with the 2016 Summer Olympics, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro and will help Georgian fans attend this highly important sports event. We continue to negotiate with the region’s other leading countries in order to sign similar agreements with them,” said Tamar Beruchashvili, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.
According to the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency (GCAA), despite the reduction of international travellers to Georgia the number of passengers served by Tbilisi International Airport has increased in 2015. 195,041 passengers have been served by Tbilisi International Airport during the first two months of 2015, up from 177,596 from the previous year. With 22%, Turkish Airlines tops the list of the most popular airline companies operating in Georgia. Georgian Airways, Ukraine International Airlines and Pegasus together make up the largest number of passengers. Meanwhile, Turkey and Ukraine are the most popular destinations for Georgians.
There are 35 air companies providing flights into Georgian airspace. Only one of them is Georgian while the rest are foreign.
During January-February 2015, Tbilisi International Airport served 195,041 passengers. Out of them 93,776 were arrivals and 101,265 departures. The total number of passengers was 177,596 during the same period of the prior-year. 83,877 arrived and 93,719 departed.
Contrary to Tbilisi International Airport, the number of passengers at Kutaisi International Airport declined during the first two months of 2015, in comparison with the same period of the previous year. Kutaisi International Airport served 20,730 passengers in 2015. Out of them 9,778 arrived, and 10,952 departed. The number was 33,742 in January-April 2014. 16,505 passengers arrived and 17,237 departed during that time.
According to the Georgian National Tourism Administration, the number of international travellers to Georgia was 600,396 during the first two months of 2015; 13,146 or 2% less than the same number of the previous year.
In total Georgian airports served 2,008,171 passengers in 2014, up from 1,833,807 or 9.5% more than the data of 2013.
With 415,867 passengers Turkish Airlines is the leader on the Georgian air market. It is followed by Georgian Airways, which served 218,536 passengers in 2014 and made up 11% of the market; Ukraine International Airlines, 9% of the market with 171, 947 passengers; and Pegasus – 145,931 passengers, making up 8% last year.
In 2015 Pegasus added flights to London Gatwick airport, Nice and Oslo. Barcelona was the top destination among the passengers of Pegasus during 2014.
Lufthansa, that has been one of the leading arline companies operating in Georgia started losing its market share recently. Currently the company shares only 3%, with 65, 475 passengers served in 2014.
“In 2014 we kept the same level in Georgia like in 2013. According to our numbers, our market share in international travel (w/o intra-Georgian flights) was 9%. We will try to keep it on this level in 2015,” Martin Riecken, Director at Corporate Communications, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, told The FINANCIAL.
“We have not lost competitiveness in georgia. With our night flight, we continue to offer the best access to our huge worldwide network,” said Riecken.
In Riecken’s words, Georgia is an important market for the company. “Our focus is to offer the best connections to our worldwide network. The priorities of Turkish Airlines are different,” he added.
“Lufthansa’s clear goal is to keep the yields up and to increase market share and absolute numbers of passengers,” Riecken told The FINANCIAL.