European Travel Commission: Greece Among Top Destinations in Europe

The European Travel Commission (ETC) has included Greece among Europe’s top 10 destinations by international tourist arrivals for the first three quarters of 2014.

In its latest report “European Tourism–Trends & Prospects”, the ETC noted that Greece has grown by a “stunning” 16 percent, partly thanks to the recovery of business travel.

According to the report, data for the first three quarters of this year paint a very positive picture for destinations in Europe, with growth spread across virtually all reporting destinations.

Among Europe’s top 10 destinations by international tourist arrivals, Spain, the second most visited destination, has grown by 9% through August, on top of nearly 61 million visits reported for 2013. Turkey, ranked number four, mirrors this performance with a seven percent increase. Germany, Europe’s fifth most visited destination, has continued its strong track record with current performance at five percent. Greece ranked number 10 among Europe’s top destinations for the first three quarters of the year.

In addition, the ETC found that European tourism grew strongly throughout 2014, with data up to August pointing to a four percent increase in foreign visits. Growth in large destinations in Southern and Northern Europe exceeded expectations, and strong two-digit growth was reported by a large number of smaller destinations.

Also, data points to a rebound of short breaks on top of main holidays, backed by increased consumer spending power in key source markets, the ETC noted in the report.

Europe is the world’s No. 1 tourist destination with 563 million international arrivals and more than 50 percent of the market share of worldwide tourism.