Which Tourists Stayed Longer in Greece and Spent More in 2022

The UK, Germany, France and the US were the top source markets for tourism in Greece in 2022, according to a report released by the Bank of Greece (BoG) this week.

The four markets have traditionally supported Greek tourism throughout the years.

A closer look reveals that travelers from Germany generated more travel receipts, the Brits outnumbered all other nationalities in terms of arrivals, while US travelers spent more per person at 1,100 euros on average compared to 1,000 euros in 2019 but arrivals were still down by 7.7 percent over 2019.

Source:BoG.

On the downside, according to central bank data for 2022, travelers from Bulgaria, Italy, Belgium and North Macedonia chose to holiday elsewhere as did the Russians, down by 69.8 percent taking a toll on travel receipts which were down by 63.9 percent in 2022 as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Despite this, travel receipts in 2022 increased by 68.3 percent to 17.6 billion euros over 2021 but were still down by 2.8 percent over pre-Covid 2019.

Top revenue generators were tourists from Germany with travel receipts up by 40.6 percent to 3.2 billion euros a 10 percent increase over 2019, from France (+28.8 percent) up by 17.2 percent over 2019, the UK (+113.3 percent) up by 22 percent against 2019, and the US  (+101.3 percent).

Source:BoG.

German travelers to Greece spent 740 euros on average compared to 730 euros in 2019, the French 720 euros from 700 euros, and the Brits 690 euros down from 730 euros in 2019.

Inbound traveler flows rose by 96.0 percent to 29,875.8 thousand from 15,246.1 thousand in 2021 but were still down by 12.1 percent over 2019.

Arrivals through Greece’s airports in 2022 grew by 81.5 percent and by 133.1 percent through road border‑crossing points.

Source:BoG.

The number of overnight stays last year rose by 64.7 percent year-on-year to 220,213.1 thousand from 133,734.9 thousand but were still down by 6.9 percent compared to 2019.

The number of visitors from Germany rose by 45.0 percent in 2022, from France by 49.6 percent, from the UK by 181.9 percent up by 28.2 percent over 2019, and from the US by 174.9 percent.

Meanwhile, total receipts generated by cruise passengers to Greece increased by 145.7 percent compared to 2021 but were still down by 11.2 percent compared with 2019.