The 2024 season is shaping up to be a record-breaking year for Greek tourism, the country’s most significant economic sector, with the number of arrivals up 20.6% over the Jan-May period, compared to the corresponding months in 2023. In absolute terms, that equates to almost seven million visitors before the actual start of the summer season.
Related travel revenues also rose over the same period to roughly 3.8 billion euros, a 16.2% year-on-year increase.
According to data released last week by the Bank of Greece, the increase in related revenue is due to higher numbers of visitors from EU-27 member-states (who spent 2.1 billion euros), which were up 24.7%. Travel revenue from German visitors – the largest national group among holiday-makers in Greece – increased by 15.1% to top 700 million euros over the first five months of the year.
Conversely, revenues generated by UK citizens fell by 3.4% to slightly less than 400 million euros.
Although analysts have expressed concerns regarding the sustainability of the current growth model, warning of the possible negative impact in the long term due to over-tourism, the Greek tourism sector has remained one of the country’s main sources of revenue experiencing a notable resurgence in the past few years, while contributing to the GDP.
Despite the positive showing, Bank of Greece data showed that the influx of international tourists had not translated into higher spending during their stays. While overall tourism revenue is increasing, this growth is due to the higher number of arrivals rather than increased spending, as the average expenditure per tourist has noticeably declined.
