German Travel Spending in Greece Increases Over 100% in January-October

Photo source: South Aegean Tourism Initiative

The inflow of tourists to Greece almost doubled between January and October, while the average expenditure per trip also showed a significant increase by 23.7 percent, according to Bank of Greece (BoG) data.

Announced on Wednesday, the data revealed an increase in travel receipts during the first ten months of the year that led to a surplus of 9.3 billion euros in the balance of travel services, up from a surplus of some 3.5 billion euros in the corresponding period of 2020.

Overall, during the first ten months of the year, Greece saw travel receipts rise by 5.9 billion euros or 142 percent to 10.1 million euros, while travel payments increased by 173 million euros or 23.9 percent to 896 million euros.

According to the data, the rise in travel receipts was due to a 93.8 percent increase in inbound traveller flows to some 13,763 thousand (January-October 2020: 7,102 thousand), as well as to a rise of 23.7 percent in the average expenditure per trip.

Biggest spenders

German tourists were Greece’s biggest spenders during the January-October 2021 period, splashing out some 2.2 billion euros – a 103.6 percent rise year-on-year. Travellers from Germany to Greece during the first 10 months of the year increased by 92.9 percent to 2,883 thousand.

Greece’s second biggest spenders were visitors from the UK with receipts up by 91 percent to some 1.4 billion euros. Travelers from France followed with receipts up by 173.8 percent to 997 million euros.

With regard to arrivals to Greece from the two countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom rose by 44.5 percent to 1,485 thousand and from France increased by 146.8 percent to 1,141 thousand.

Americans and Russians

Greece also saw a significant increase in travel receipts from the United States with revenue from American tourists up by 632.1 percent to 588 million euros. Receipts from Russia also increased, by 624.5 percent to 96 million euros.

The number of travellers from the United States to Greece increased by 265.9 percent to 365 thousand and from Russia by 286.4 percent to 94 thousand.