Travel revenue increased by 27.1% in January 2024, while inbound tourism grew by 16.0%, with approximately 737.3 thousand travelers arriving in Greece, according to preliminary data released by the Bank of Greece (BoG).
This translates into a surplus of 112.6 million euros in January 2024 for the tourism balance, compared to a surplus of 54.6 million euros in the same month of 2023.
Revenues in the tourism sector posted a 27.1% rise in January 2024, reaching 278.3 million euros, compared to 219.0 million euros in January 2023. Furthermore, a 0.7% increase was observed in tourism payments (January 2024: 165.7 million euros, January 2023: 164.4 million euros).
This increase is attributed to both the rise in inbound tourism by 16.0% and the average spending per trip, which was up by 9.7%, while net revenues from the travel services offset the deficit in goods balance by 4.2% and contributed 25.8% to the total net service revenue.
Tourism Revenue
Breaking down the rise in revenues in January 2024, residents of EU-27 countries increased by 63.3%, reaching 149.0 million euros, while revenue from residents of countries outside the EU-27 increased by 1.0% (January 2024: 126.5 million euros, January 2023: 125.2 million euros).
The increase in revenue from residents of EU-27 countries was due to the increase in revenue from residents of the eurozone countries by 49.6% (January 2024: 115.5 million euros, January 2023: 77.2 million euros), as well as the increase in revenue from residents of EU-27 countries outside the eurozone by 138.8%, to 33.5 million euros.
The most significant countries of origin of travelers from the eurozone, revenue from Germany increased by 34.7% to 29.0 million euros, while revenue from France increased by 83.0% to 20.0 million euros. From countries outside the EU-27, revenue from the United Kingdom increased by 8.1% to 20.0 million euros, and revenue from the United States increased by 63.6% to 23.1 million euros. Finally, there were no revenues from Russia.
