MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Mariam Kvrivishvili participated in the official opening of the international business tourism forum, “m&i Tbilisi 2024”. Within the event, 83 local and international companies providing tourist services, hold up to 40 meetings with the potential customers in B2B format for 3 days.

In his welcoming speech, the Deputy Minister attached great importance to the holding of the m&i Forum, the world's most influential event in the field of business tourism, in Georgia. According to Kvrivishvili, this is the greatest recognition of Georgia from the world's influential tour operators. "We won this victory as a result of great competition. Many leading tourist countries of Europe wanted to hold the forum. The organizers sent a number of inspections to Georgia, and what is especially gratifying, they gave us the highest rating in such parameters as tourist product, potential, infrastructure, aviation connection, strong private sector, country's security, reputation, awareness and others," – Mariam Kvrivishvili noted.

According to the Deputy Minister, hosting such a high-ranking forum means that Georgia is ready to host any high-ranking forum in the future, which will increase both the country's tourism awareness and income from the mentioned sector. "I am sure that in the next few days we will present the tourism opportunities of our country with dignity. Business tourism is distinguished by attracting large groups of tourists with high purchasing power and international visitors. I want to express gratefulness to all those people who believed with us – that Georgia could become the host country of m&i Forum!" – Mariam Kvrivishvili said.

In her greeting address, the Deputy Minister focused on the dynamics of rapid recovery of the tourism and civil aviation sectors in Georgia and noted that in 2023, the country received 4,1 billion USD income from tourism, which is 26,2 percent more than the figure of 2019 before the pandemic. According to Kvrivishvili, the mentioned trend was maintained in 2024 as well. The Deputy Minister emphasized the fact that according to the data of the first quarter of 2024, compared to the same period of 2019, 44,4 percent more international visitors from European countries arrived in Georgia.
The Head of the National Tourism Administration, Maya Omiadze, also welcomed the participants of the forum.

Within the m&i Forum, representatives of 63 leading companies of the business tourism industry from Great Britain, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland arrived in Georgia. Within the framework of the forum, they will meet with representatives of local businesses, as well as visit the tourist attractions of Georgia.