ICAP: Greek Tourism Sector Going Strong

Photo © Maria Theofanopoulou

Greece’s tourism sector is continuing to grow despite the ongoing economic crisis, according data released by Athens-based market research firm ICAP this week.

Among other sectors, the report assessed the 2015 financial results of 802 tourism enterprises based on their balance sheets. ICAP findings indicate that the continuous increase in the number of arrivals to Greece boosted results in 2015 and sales by 2 percent. At the same time, a restriction in sales costs led to improved gross profit by 7.6 percent.

These factors combined with higher non-operating income contributed to the the positive results and to the further improvement in profitability, with a recorded pre-tax profit of 162.4 million euros in 2015 (up year-on-year by almost 7 percent). In the meantime, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) fell by 4.9 percent in the last year, down to 512.7 million euros in 2015.

Gains for Other Sectors

Besides tourism enterprises, the ICAP survey assessed the results of 2,051 manufacturers, 3,660 companies active in trade, 3,336 service providers, and 682 active in construction, comparing financial results against the year before. According to this data, 2015 marked a return to profitability for Greek enterprises.

“Throughout the crisis period, Greek enterprises operated in a particularly adverse environment, trying to adapt and improve their competitiveness. After a long period of recession, the Greek economy began to show signs of slight recovery in 2014 and in the first half of 2015, which however, were subsequently overturned by measures restricting the movement of capital, etc, thereby leading to a marginal downturn throughout the year,’’ said President & Group CEO of ICAP Group Nikitas Konstantellos.

According to the report, 2015 marked the end for a first time in a five-year period of financial damages with the majority of Greek companies back on the path to profitability.

Despite a slight 3 percent decline in turnover last year, the enormous efforts to adapt to the new environment appear to have paid off, demonstrated by an improved operating result and double operating profits. In the meantime, the negative outcomes turned into gains of 1.89 billion euros (before tax) against losses of 213 million euros in 2014.