COVID-19 Restarting Travel & Tourism in Greece BoG: Greece Travel Receipts Recoup 58.6% of Pre-pandemic Levels by GTP editing team 21 February 2022 written by GTP editing team 21 February 2022 1 comment Share 0FacebookTwitterLinkedinWhatsappEmail 22 Acropolis Museum in Athens. Archive photo © Maria Theofanopoulou Tourism-related revenues in 2021 recovered 58.6 percent of pre-Covid-19 levels amounting to 10.6 billion euros, the Bank of Greece (BoG) said this week. More specifically, according to the country’s central bank, the rise in the services surplus is almost “exclusively attributable to an improvement in the travel services balance”. Indicatively, non-resident arrivals grew by 99.4 percent generating 10.6 billion euros in receipts up by 146.7 percent over 2020, or 46.9 percent and 58.6 percent of the respective levels in pre-pandemic 2019. Net transport receipts dropped by 6.0 percent. Overall in 2021, the current account deficit decreased by 356.6 million euros year‑on‑year to 10.6 billion euros. Passengers making their way to a checkpoint upon their arrival at Athens International Airport. Source: EC – Audiovisual Service / Photographer: Yorgos Karahalis In December 2021, non-resident arrivals soared by a massive 294 percent driving tourism revenue up by 406.9 percent and recovering 60 percent (receipts) and 55 percent (arrivals) of respective levels in the same month in 2019. The surplus of the transport balance grew mainly on the back of an improvement in the surplus of the sea transport balance. According to BoG data, the current account deficit in December 2021, grew by 1.1 billion euros year‑on‑year to 1.7 billion euros. Outlook positive, says tourism minister Commenting on the news, Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias said the outlook for the year ahead was “very good”. “For 2021, tourism revenues were forecast at 5-6 billion euros. Finally, according to the Bank of Greece, revenues came to 10.4 billion euros for 2021 and the outlook for 2022 is very good,” he said, adding that takings from tourism support Greek families which operate small and medium-sized businesses. “This is a huge industry. It is the locomotive of the Greek economy, contributing 25 percent to the country’s GDP,” he said. Join the 15,000+ travel executives who read our newsletter Follow GTP Headlines on Google News to keep up to date with all the latest on tourism and travel in Greece. Share 0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinWhatsappEmail GTP editing team This is the team byline for GTP. The copyrights for these articles are owned by GTP. They may not be redistributed without the permission of the owner. previous post Mykonos Hotel Turnover Takes the Lead in 2021 next post ΞΕΕ: Άνοιξε η περίοδος των αιτήσεων για το 3ο Idea Platform του CapsuleT You may also like Greece’s Hotel Market Sees Major Investments Over Four Months 5 February 2025 Greek Tourism Ministry Monitors Santorini Situation as Seismic Activity Continues 5 February 2025 Global Air Passenger Demand Reaches Record High in 2024, IATA Reports 5 February 2025 Greek PM Reassures Public About Santorini’s Ongoing Seismic Activity 5 February 2025 Milos: Ministry Suspends 5-star Hotel Construction Near Sarakiniko Beach 5 February 2025 ELIME and HELMEPA Join Forces for Safer, More Sustainable Greek Ports 5 February 2025 1 comment Carl+Simpson 22 February 2022 - 12:05 The pandemic has hopefully left one good legacy it will hopefully lead to winter tourism and direct flights to Greek islands something that has been needed for many years yet been shunned. Reply Leave a Reply to Carl+Simpson Cancel Reply Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ
