Greek Travel Receipts for February on the Rise Before Covid-19

Athens, Monastiraki. Photo credit: Region of Attica

Greece was forecast to enter another record year for tourism in 2020 before coronavirus (Covid-19) struck, bringing global travel to a halt.

According to data released this week by the Bank of Greece, in February, nearly one month before the coronavirus spread to Europe, travel receipts in Greece marked a 21.1 percent year-on-year increase driven in large part by spending from non-EU countries, which rose by 50.6 percent to 158 million euros against the same month in 2019 at 105 million euros.

Spending by travelers from the EU fell by 11.6 percent to 82 million euros against 70 million euros in February 2019.

In terms of key source markets, receipts from Germany dropped by 21.3 percent to 18 million euros, from France by 42.2 percent to 5 million euros, from the UK by 46.3 percent to 13 million euros, and from Russia by 14.2 percent to 3 million euros.

On an upward trend were receipts from the US, up by 83.1 percent to 28 million euros.

For the two-month January-February 2020 period, travel receipts came to 527 million euros, up by 22.9 percent compared to the same period in 2019 driven by a 43.3 percent rise in receipts from non-EU residents to 328 million euros.

In terms of markets for the two-month period, receipts from Germany fell by 8.1 percent to 43 million euros, from France by 44.6 percent to 9 million euros, and from Russia by 56.6 percent to 5 million euros.

Meanwhile, in the given period, UK spending rose by 12.8 percent to 47 million euros and from the US by 86.9 percent to 55 million euros.

With regard to traveler flows, the number of inbound visitors increased by 24.6 percent year-on-year in February to 627 thousand: up by 19.5 percent through airports and by 35.7 percent through road border-crossing points.

For the two-month January-February 2020 period, traveler traffic rose by 21.8 percent year-on-year to 1,417 thousand: up by 25.0 percent through airports and by 19.6 percent through road border-crossing points.