Alpha Bank: Improved Tourism Performance Puts a Brake on Recession in Greece

Increased tourist arrivals and the incoming cash flow appear to have saved Greece from the depths of recession, according to a report released last week by Alpha Bank.

According to the bank’s weekly bulletin, a recession period is highly likely in the second half of 2015, but is expected to be limited particularly after the unexpected growth recorded in the second quarter and the upward trend in tourism in the summer months.

Indicatively, Alpha Bank found that the number of incoming tourists in June 2015 grew by 12.4 percent year-on-year, compared to 13.7 percent in June 2014.

The number of tourists reached 3,033 million in June 2015, compared with 2,698 million in the same month in 2014.

Meanwhile, in the first half of 2015, the number of incoming tourists grew by 20.8 percent against 15.6 percent in the corresponding period of 2014.

At the same time, travel receipts continue to increase – albeit at a slightly slower rate – compared to 2014, up by 8.2 percent in the first half of 2015, compared with 9.6 percent in the same period in 2014.

According to Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) statistics, the number of arrivals of foreign visitors to the country’s main airports on charter flights increased by 6.9 percent in January-July 2015, with July seeing a 5.3 percent rise year-on-year.