Georgia hotel and tourism lending fell 15% as business credit kept growing

Georgia’s banks are still reducing exposure to hotels and tourism even as business lending expands elsewhere. BM.GE, citing National Bank of Georgia data for July 2026, says loans to the hotel and tourism sector totaled GEL 2.78 billion, down 15% year on year, or GEL 494 million. Total lending to businesses increased 12% over the same period. Earlier September data also showed GEL 130 million of the sector’s loans more than 91 days overdue, equal to 4.7% of the portfolio. The contrast is notable because property-related credit remains large elsewhere: at the end of June, real-estate development loans stood at GEL 5.12 billion and were up 19% year on year. The numbers do not measure the performance of any individual hotel, aparthotel or residential project, but they show that banks are differentiating more sharply between property-linked business models. For buyers comparing investment-oriented developments in Georgia, project-level research is available at homeradar.ge.