Greek tourism is soaring, according to Bank of Greece (BoG) preliminary data, as a total of roughly 33 million foreign tourists visited Greece during the January–October period, driving travel revenues to €20.94 billion.
Despite this surge, the average expenditure per visitor decreased by 2.5% compared to last year, standing at €589.5 compared to €616 in 2023 and €631.8 in 2022.
According to the figures from the Bank of Greece, the travel balance in October 2024 recorded a surplus of €1.9419 billion, up from a surplus of €1.6372 billion in the same month of 2023.
Specifically, travel revenues in October 2024 increased by 19.7%, amounting to €2.1767 billion compared to €1.819 billion in October 2023. Travel payments also rose significantly by 29.2% (October 2024: €234.8 million, October 2023: €181.8 million).
The rise in travel revenues is primarily attributed to an 8.6% increase in inbound travel and a 10.7% rise in average spending per trip. Net revenues from travel services offset 59.8% of the goods trade deficit and contributed 83.8% of total net revenues from services.
The increase in revenues for Greek tourism from EU-27 countries was driven by growth in receipts from residents of both Eurozone countries, which rose by 15.9% (€940.3 million in October 2024 compared to €811.1 million in October 2023), and from EU-27 countries outside the Eurozone, which increased by 3.5%, reaching €133.0 million compared to €128.4 million in the same month of 2023.
Specifically, among the major source countries within the Eurozone, revenues from Germany rose by 6.1%, amounting to €463.6 million, while receipts from France increased by 19.4%, reaching €115.0 million. Revenues from Italy also saw a significant rise of 26.0%, amounting to €59.3 million.
Among other countries, revenues from the United Kingdom increased by 10.4%, reaching €330.7 million, while receipts from the United States surged by 49.9%, totaling €163.0 million. Lastly, revenues from Russia were up by 40.2%, amounting to €2.5 million.
