Visa Teams Up with Greece to Provide Tourism Trend Data

Visa CEO for Europe Charlotte Hogg and Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias sign the agreement.

Visa, a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers across more than 200 countries. aims to contribute to the recovery of the Greek tourism industry by providing data and trends as part of a new agreement with the Tourism Ministry.

Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias announced the news on Tuesday after signing the agreement with Visa CEO for Europe Charlotte Hogg.

Under the deal, Visa will provide the tourism ministry with valid data on international and domestic tourism and travel trends, supporting the efforts for the sector’s full recovery. 

Kikilias said the move was one more step towards the implementation of the country’s 10-year tourism growth strategy. Visa will be providing the ministry with aggregated data-based information on a number of indicators such as spending patterns, collected through its “Mediterranean Tourism Trends Dashboard” tool. The ministry will in turn assess the data to further improve public and private sector services, as well as to attract more targeted visitors from abroad.

Referring to the agreement, Kikilias underlined the importance of formulating a policy based on data. “In this regard, we welcome our cooperation with Visa as it will significantly enhance our policy-making capabilities when designing the tourism product.”

Photo source: Visa

Under the agreement, Visa will also work with the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) to attract more tourists from abroad through far-reaching marketing and info campaigns. 

“We are happy to work with the Greek tourism ministry contributing to informed decision-making, the increase in visitors to Greece and in tourism revenue. By providing valid data on international visitors’ spending trends during their trip to Greece, we hope to assist the ministry in developing an even more targeted approach towards the further development of the tourism industry, which is vital for the country’s economy,” said Hogg.

According to Visa’s “Mediterranean Tourism Trends Dashboard”:

-The UK, the US, France and Germany are the four main source markets for Greece, accounting for a significant percentage of visitors who use credit cards for their expenses. 

-Travelers who have already visited Greece in the past tend to spend, on average, twice as much per person on their next visit to the country. 

-Greece’s digital payment acceptance infrastructure is highly advanced, but a large number of tourists do not seem to be aware of this. 

– The majority of tourism spending via card takes place mainly in Athens, and on the Greek islands in July and August. 

– Most spending concerns travel and leisure, and retail, with spending on health also growing.