The resumption of the Baku-Tbilisi railway route is expected to bring hundreds of millions of dollars to Georgia’s tourism sector.

Analysts predict that the reopening of the railway connection between Baku and Tbilisi could generate an additional $200 million for Georgian tourism and increase tourism revenues from Azerbaijan to $435 million in 2026, The Caspian Post reports via Sputnik Georgia.

“The reopening provides a timely boost and compensates for the decline in tourist flows from the Middle East, improving our annual forecast,” the company said in its review.

Before operations were suspended, the railway route was a popular travel option for both regional and international visitors. In 2019 alone, around 19,000 tourists arrived in Georgia via the Baku-Tbilisi train, with nearly half of them coming from third countries.