Eurostat: Greek Tourism Shows Promising Recovery Signs Compared to 2020

Greece this summer was among the countries with the most promising signs of tourism recovery, compared with 2020, in terms of the number of nights spent by tourists in accommodation establishments.

According to data released by Eurostat on Monday, Greece recorded the second largest increase in the number of overnight stays recorded in the EU’s tourist accommodation establishments – such as hotels, holiday and other short-stay accommodation, and campsites – compared to the summer months of 2020, after Malta.

“In the summer of 2021, tourism showed signs of recovery following the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” Eurostat said, noting that August 2021 showed the most promising signs of recovery to pre-COVID figures in terms of the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments in the EU.

More specifically, August 2021 recorded a 20 percent decline when compared with August 2019, whereas August 2020 had seen a 30 percent decline when compared with August 2019. These signs of recovery were also seen in July (-29 percent in 2021; -40 percent in 2020) and in June (-51 percent; -70 percent).

During the three summer months, from June to August 2021, 856 million nights were spent in EU tourist accommodation, a decline of 31 percent compared with the pre-covid summer of 2019. The number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments declined across all Member States in July-August 2021 when compared with 2019. The decline was more than 25 percent for 10 out of 24 Member States with available data.

In Greece, overnight stays were down by 48 percent (the largest decrease among EU countries) compared to 2019, but increased significantly compared to 2020.

Compared with 2020, however, the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments in June-August 2021 increased in almost all Member States with available data. Only Latvia showed a decline (-16 percent).