Western Greece Region Leader in Tourism Revenue

Nafpaktos, Greece. Photo Source: Municipality of Nafpaktia

The Region of Western Greece, which includes Patra and Nafpaktos, is in the lead in terms of tourism-related revenue, the regional authority said this week, attributing the positive performance to increased visits and overnight stays which continued into the second quarter of 2018.

Patra,Greece. Photo © Alexander Tolstykh / Shutterstock

A total of 308,000 people visited the Region of Western Greece in the first half of the year, compared to 223,800 in the corresponding 2017 period, up by 38.05 percent.

The region said in a statement that it had posted the largest percentage increase in travel receipts by 55.49 percent compared to the country’s remaining regions – with the average at 17.69 percent – in the second quarter of 2018, compared to the same period last year.

This, the regional authority said, is reflected in the number of visits to Western Greece in the second quarter of 2018 which, compared to the same quarter last year, grew from 178,000 to 232,000, a 30.41 percent rise.

Katakolo, Greece. Photo source: Port of Katakolon

Citing Bank of Greece data, the region said the number of overnight stays in the second quarter of 2018 increased from 724,500 to 997,600, up by 37.71 percent compared to last year. Total overnight stays came to 1,379,700 against 918,100 in the first half of the year.

“The Western Greece Region has an integrated strategy for tourism in place which appears to be bearing fruit as demonstrated by the positive indicators,” said Western Greece Governor Apostolos Katsifaras, adding that there was an increase in the number of arrivals at the airports of Araxos and Aktio, and through the ports of Patra and Katakolo. “We will work to keep the tourist flow steady to our region,” he said.