Greek Travel Balance Shows 10.1 Bln-Euro Surplus In Jan-Nov

Greece’s travel balance showed a surplus of 10.137 billion euros during the January-November 2013 period, up by 1.523 billion euros (or a 17.7 percent increase) compared with the same period in 2012, the Bank of Greece said in a recent report.

This development is attributed to a 14.9 percent increase (1.530 billion euros) in travel receipts and a 0.4 percent rise (seven million euros) in travel payments in the 11-month period.

Tourist arrivals were up by 15.3 percent in the January-November period, while average spending per trip rose by 1.3 percent in the same period.

Arrivals from EU countries were up by 7.2 percent, exceeding 10.3 million tourists.

However, a larger increase of 29.4 percent was recorded from arrivals from countries outside the EU. In particular, arrivals from Russia and the United States were up by 54.7 percent and 24.5 percent respectively.