March Travel Receipts for Greece Up by 32.2%

Delphi, Greece. Photo: GTP

Travel receipts increased in March by 32.2 percent year-on-year to 319 million euros from 241 million euros in the same month last year, with the figure for the January-March period stronger by 37.2 percent to 760 million euros against the same period in 2018, according to provisional data released on Wednesday, by the Bank of Greece.

Central bank data cites the positive three-month figures to a 21.9 percent increase in average expenditure per trip, as well as to a 9.1 percent rise in inbound traveler flows.

Over the three-month period receipts from EU residents came to 397 million euros, and to 356 million euros by non-EU nationals.

Top spenders in this period were from Germany up by 9.5 percent to 85 million euros, France up 55.3 percent to 27 million euros, and the UK stronger by 79.5 percent to 75 million euros. Spending also rose from US travelers by 118.9 percent to 76 million euros and from Russians up by 63.5 percent to 15 million euros.

According to bank figures, travel payments also marked a 53.4 percent rise in March to 224 million euros against 146 million euros the same month last year with the balance of travel services showing a surplus of 95 million euros in March – near last year’s levels.

Photo: GTP

For the January-March period, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of 212 million euros, up from a surplus of 127 million in the same period in 2018, attributed to a 37.2 percent rise in travel receipts. Again, the increase in travel receipts is attributed to a 27.7 percent rise in average expenditure per trip, as well as to a 7.8 percent rise in inbound traffic.

Meanwhile, the number of inbound visitors for the month of March rose by 9.1 percent year-on-year to 773,000 – up by 18.3 percent through airports but down by 2.0 percent at road border-crossing points.

Incoming traffic during the January-March period, increased by 7.8 percent year-on-year to 1,936,000 against 1,796,000 in March 2018, up by 19.5 percent through the country’s airports but down by 5.3 percent through border points.