Report: Tourism Sector On Very Positive Track This Year

Greek tourism picks up in the first half of 2013, with international airport arrivals and revenues up by 10 percent (Q1 and Q2) and 15.5 percent (Jan-May) respectively, according to the latest report conducted by GBR Consulting on the performance and outlook of the Greek hotel industry for the second quarter of 2013.

According to the report, some four million tourists arrived at Greek airports in the second quarter of 2013, which is a 12.6 percent increase (442,000 tourists) than the same quarter last year. Athens and Thessaloniki also recovered from a bad start of the year, especially in the months May and June, while April was still negative.

As a result, occupancy levels are overall higher at Greek hotels, with the exception of hotels in Thessaloniki which benefited in 2012 from hosting recovering Libyan rebel fighters*. (During the civil war in Libya, February-October 2011, Greek private hospitals and hotels organized a short duration hospitalization and hosting program for the injured.)

In terms of room rates, resort hotels improved their performance, while hoteliers of Athens and especially Thessaloniki saw their rates declining.

Greek tourism on the up

According to GBR Consulting, the above positive indicators are confirmed by positive official figures for the first months of 2013.

Greece’s current account balance showed a small surplus in May of 35.5 million euros, from a deficit of 1.2 billion euros in the same month last year. This result was achieved mainly by a narrower trade gap and higher tourism receipts.

In May, tourism receipts reached 1,054 million euros, an increase of 38.5 percent compared to May 2012, bringing the total tourism receipts in the first five months of the year to 1,733 million euros, representing an increase of 15.5 percent compared to the same period last year.

In the same period of January–May, 3,048,000 travelers visited Greece, 263,900 more than in the same period last year. As a result, the average expenditure per trip also increased from 539 euros to 569 euros.

“It is expected that by the end of 2013 at least 17 million tourists will have arrived, spending some 11.1 billion euros, up from 10.0 billion euros in 2012,” GBR commented.

Finally, according to the GBR Consulting barometer for 2013 Q3, there are differences between resort and city hotels.

“Indeed all hoteliers forecast higher occupancy levels for this year. But, while resort hotels are also upbeat about thier average room rates (ARR), city hoteliers expect it to decrease,” GBR concluded.

Expectation for 2013