Greece’s July Tourism Revenues Reach €3.7bn, Exceed 2019 Levels

Revenue generated from Greek tourism continued its upward trend in July and surpassed 2019 levels, the Bank of Greece (BoG) said on Tuesday.

According to the latest data released, July’s tourism revenues reached 3.723 billion euros, marginally exceeding (0.5 percent) the corresponding level of July 2019 when revenue from Greek tourism was at 3.702 billion euros.

It is noted that tourism revenues in July 2020 (the first year of the pandemic) had reached only 677 million euros and in July 2021 stood at 2.288 billion euros.

7-month Greek tourism revenues closer to pre-Covid levels

As a result, January-July tourism revenues in Greece came one step closer to pre-pandemic 2019 levels, reaching 8.84 billion euros, despite the ongoing energy crisis, inflationary pressures and Covid-19.

According to the BoG, January-July 2022 revenues recovered 97.1 percent of their respective 2019 levels.

In 2019, tourism revenues during the first seven months of the year were at 9.11 billion euros.

In January-July 2020, the industry recorded a mere 1.41 billion euros in revenue and 3.48 billion euros in January-July 2021.

With regard to tourist traffic, arrivals of non-residents in July 2022 rose 93 percent compared to the same month in 2019. January-July 2022 arrivals recovered 87.9 percent of the respective 2019 levels.

2022 vs 2021

More into the data, during the January-July 2022 seven-month period, non-resident arrivals increased by 191.4 percent and tourism revenues by 154.2 percent over the same period in 2021.

In July 2022, non-resident arrivals to Greece were up 87.3 percent over July 2021, generating a 62.7 percent increase in revenue compared to that month last year.

In addition, revenues from transport services for the January-July period were up by 33.4 percent the BoG said.

Judging from the data, Greece’s tourism industry is one step closer to recovering fully this year with a growing number of international arrivals set to generate an estimated 20 billion euros by the end of 2022 outdoing pre-Covid revenues.

Minister: We continue forward

Commenting on ELSTAT’s data and specifically on Greek tourism’s revenue of 3.7 billion euros in July, which surpassed the corresponding month of 2019, Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on Twitter:

“This is revenue that goes to the average Greek family, small and medium-sized businesses, to all those involved in our large industry. We continue forward.”

The minister last month said Greece is aiming for record revenues this year. “We will surpass 2019,” he said.