Fastest growing industries in Georgia

• The country's capital, Tbilisi, is its economic center and most populated. Due to that, it has a large proportion of the country's labor and employment. 33% of the population is employed. Key sectors there are retail and wholesale trade, construction, and healthcare.
• Over the past 5 years, the fastest growing sectors in the capital have been 'entertainment and recreation (38.9% CAGR), real estate (23.3%), energy (17.2%), hospitality & food (13.7%) and construction (8.2%)'.
• Notably private enterprises generate 96% of the city's turnover — 62% coming from local companies and 34% from foreign companies.
• The Georgian prime minister was quoted as saying that 'the private sector is the future'.
• Georgia is seen as the 4th fastest growing tourist destination in the world.

• The services account for 60.2% of Georgian GDP and employ 44% of the workforce (World Bank). It is boosted by the hotel, restaurant, transport and, telecommunications industries.

Entertainment and recreation

•  Retail and entertainment is already one of the capital's largest sectors. It accounted for US$11.4 billion in turnover in 2017. The predicted growth of the tourism industry, referred to in the previous research, is expected to lead to an increase in growth of the city's retail and entertainment sector. Although the report referenced is specific to Tbilisi, it is reasonable to expect other cities in the country to experience similar growth.
• Prohibition of gambling in the surrounding countries gives Georgia an opportunity to expand its casino businesses and attract tourists looking to gamble from those countries.
•  Niche tourism is considered a growth area within the general tourism industry — areas such as Georgia's wine industry, gambling as mentioned above and, skiing — Georgia already has 5 winter ski resorts are all seen as potential areas for growth. With the expansion in these areas would come the need for complementary services such as restaurants and entertainment.
•  Restaurants will see growth for the 11th year in a row with fast service options likely to be more popular than table service.
• The Government has previously offered public-private partnerships to investors for development of protected areas. These include the Lagodekhi treetop walkway, modeled after Hainich National Park's 530 meter trail is another such project. The cost for development was estimated at US$ 1.5 to 3 million over a year.
• Another project is the Sataplia Jurassic Park at an estimated investment cost of US$ 3.0mn. As the government continues to promote tourism there is the potential for them to offer further opportunities of this nature to private investors.

• The Georgian government is supporting the hospitality sector development in promoting the capital city as a center for meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions (MICE) which would likely drive demand for other services such as recreation facilities and restaurants for attendees.
•  Hospitality is predicted to outperform the country's economy, although on a lesser basis than in previous years it will continue to be driven by the expansion in the likes of MICE.

Research strategy