Greece: August Setbacks in Tourism Revenue

• In August 2024, the balance of travel services recorded a surplus of €4,020.7 million. This marked a decrease from August 2023, when the surplus stood at €4,090.6 million.
• Travel receipts in August 2024 fell by 1.8% to €4,249.6 million, compared to €4,328.2 million in August 2023.
• Travel payments dropped by 3.7%, recording €228.9 million in August 2024, down from €237.6 million in August 2023.
• The decline in travel receipts was linked to an 8.8% reduction in average spending per trip despite a 6.6% increase in incoming traveller numbers.
• Net travel receipts offset the goods deficit by 150.6%, contributing to 88.8% of the total net receipts from services.

January-August 2024 Summary:

• The travel services balance for January-August 2024 showed a surplus of €13,330.6 million, up from €13,096.1 million in the same period of 2023.
• Travel receipts ascended by €476.2 million, or 3.2%, reaching €15,179.6 million.
• Travel payments rose by €241.7 million, or 15.0%, hitting €1,849.0 million.
• This rise in travel receipts was primarily due to a 9.9% surge in the number of inbound travellers despite a 7.0% drop in spending per trip.
• Net travel receipts covered 58.3% of the goods deficit and represented 83.4% of total net service receipts.

Travel Receipts:

• In August 2024, travel receipts from EU27 residents grew by 5.1%, reaching €2,599.2 million compared to €2,473.8 million in August 2023.
• However, receipts from non-EU countries fell by 13.9%, tallying €1,506.4 million, down from €1,750.3 million.
• Revenue from euro-area residents increased by 3.2% to €2,022.0 million, while contributions from non-euro area EU27 countries rose by 12.1% to €577.2 million.
• German visitors contributed 13.0% more, totalling €729.2 million, whereas French visitors contributed 9.6% less at €331.7 million. Italy saw an increase of 18.5%, with receipts totalling €396.1 million.
• The UK saw a 14.6% decline, bringing in €647.3 million, while the US experienced a 14.7% rise to €215.9 million. No revenue was recorded from Russia.
• From January to August 2024, overall travel receipts rose 3.2% to €15,179.6 million.
• Receipts from EU27 countries went up 6.0% to €8,562.7 million, while those from other regions decreased by 2.8% to €5,980.9 million.
• Revenue from the euro area rose by 3.0% to €6,699.8 million, and from non-euro area EU countries by 18.4% to €1,862.9 million.
• German receipts grew by 3.7%, totalling €2,472.8 million, while French receipts fell by 12.4% to €1,007.8 million. Italy saw an increase of 18.3% to €988.6 million.
• Income from UK travellers increased by 2.8% to €2,375.6 million, and US visitors by 0.8% to €979.6 million. Russia’s contribution decreased by 68.5% to €8.7 million.

Inbound Traveller Flows:

• In August 2024, visitor numbers rose 6.6% to 6,908.0 thousand.
• Air travellers increased by 8.8%, while those crossing by road grew by 3.0%.
• EU27 visitors rose by 8.1%, while those from other regions increased by 4.1%.
• Travellers from the euro area increased by 12.7% to 2,838.6 thousand, and from non-euro area EU27 nations increased by 0.7% to 1,600.5 thousand.
• German visitors increased by 31.3% to 1,008.5 thousand, French by 14.1% to 454.0 thousand, and Italians by 6.0% to 553.2 thousand.
• UK travellers decreased by 5.3% to 870.8 thousand, while US visitors rose by 13.7% to 227.7 thousand. No entries were recorded from Russia.
• From January to August 2024, the number of visitors increased by 9.9% to 24,890.6 thousand.
• Airport arrivals increased by 11.1%, and road border entries by 7.7%.
• The number of EU27 visitors increased by 10.3% to 15,225.5 thousand, and from other countries by 9.2% to 9,635.1 thousand.
• Visitors from the euro area climbed by 13.4% and from non-euro area EU countries by 4.8%.
• The number of German travellers grew by 17.7% to 3,613.1 thousand, the number of French travellers by 7.7% to 1,518.5 thousand, and the number of Italian travellers by 10.9% to 1,543.9 thousand.
• UK arrivals rose by 4.0% to 3,136.9 thousand, and US visitors by 8.4% to 1,016.3 thousand. Russian visitor numbers fell by 64.9% to 9.0 thousand.

Data source: Bank of Greece