WTTC: Tourism Investment in Greece Drops, Better Outlook in 10 Years

Photo: GTP

Greek tourism seems to slowing down this year according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) which predicts that tourism investment in Greece is set to drop by 7.6 percent, overall contribution of the sector to GDP by 1.8 percent, and to employment by 0.6 percent, adding however that travel receipts will mark a 2.2 percent rise.

The WTTC’s Travel & Tourism Economic Impact Report released this week gives Greek tourism a more positive outlook in a 10-year time frame with estimates that more than 38 million tourists will visit Greece in 2026, boosting travel receipts to 23.3 billion euros. The sector, meanwhile, will support 1.1 million jobs, representing 28 percent of the employment total.

In 2026, the sector’s contribution to GDP will come to 46.7 billion euros, representing 24 percent of the total. Last year, Greece ranked 40th among 184 countries in terms of the sector’s total contribution to GDP.

Meanwhile, Greek tourism seems to have gotten off to a bad start this year, with Bank of Greece data released this week indicating a drop by 7.8 percent in the number of international arrivals for January against the same month last year.

Arrivals from France fell by 7.4 percent, 14 percent from Germany, 9.4 percent from the UK and 17.4 percent from Russia, while the number of arrivals from the US saw an increase of 4.9 percent. At the same time, travel receipts in January decreased by 4.7 percent, to 161.1 million euros.