Foreign Tourists In Greece Spend More, Assist Growth

Greece’s current account surplus widened during the January-August 2013 period, helped by surging tourism receipts, the Bank of Greece said on 18 October.

The current account balance, a key measure of economic competitiveness, showed a surplus of 1.6 billion euros, against a deficit of 3.7 billion euros in the corresponding period of 2012.

Tourism receipts rose 12.4 percent year-on-year to 2.84 billion euros in August, generating a current account surplus of 1.221 billion euros.

This brings total tourism revenue for the first eight months of the year to 8.69 billion euros, up 13.7 percent compared with the same period last year.

SETE: Cruise revenue must be included

The Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) applauded the announcement and underlined that this year’s increase in tourism revenue will rise to 16 percent if cruise revenue generated to Greece during the July-August 2013 period is included.

SETE is forecasting a 10 percent rise in tourism receipts for the full year to 11.5-11.6 billion euros. If cruise revenue is included, the association said it expects a total of 12.1 to 12.2 billion euros in tourism revenue for 2013.

On the other hand, travel spending abroad by Greek residents fell by 6.5 percent, the Bank of Greece’s data showed.