Visitors Ignore Museums and Archaeological Sites

Museum visits in Greece dropped during the first four months of the year, according to recent figures released by the General Secretariat for the National Statistical Service of Greece.

Statistics show that although visitors to museums during the January-April 2007 period reached 579,141 persons, for the same period of 2008 only 327,049 were recorded. The service suggests a drop equal to 43.5 percent. As for archaeological sites, a 41.1 percent decrease was recorded in 2008 when compared with the January-April 2007 period. The first four months of 2008 (when compared with the same period of 2007) saw a 46.9 percent drop in visits to the archaeological site of Epidavros, along with the Acropolis in Athens (-22.9 percent); Sounion (-56 percent); the Acropolis in Lindos (-30.8 percent); Ancient Olympia (-38.1 percent); Knossos (-59 percent); Festos (-50.3 percent); Ancient Corinth (-49.5 percent); and Delphi (-61.2 percent), which had the biggest drop in visits.