BoG: 5-month International Arrivals to Greece Rise by 32.9%

Photo source: UNWTO

Greece welcomed a total of 5,759.5 thousand (some 5.76 million) international travelers in the first five months of the year, up by 32.9 percent compared to 4,333.9 thousand (some 4.33 million) in the same period a year ago, found data released by the Bank of Greece (BoG) this week.

More specifically, according to central bank data, traveler flows through Greece’s airports increased by 26.2 percent and by 57.6 percent through road border-crossing points boosting tourism-related revenues by 30.7 percent in the January-May 2023 period.

Arrivals from the EU were up by 26.6 percent year-on-year to 3,200.1 thousand and by 41.7 percent to 2,559.5 thousand from outside the EU.

Source: BoG.

In terms of source markets, the number of arrivals to Greece from Germany rose by 17.9 percent to 870.9 thousand, from France up by 31.5 percent to 401.0 thousand, from the UK up by 2.3 percent to 639.9 thousand, and from the US up by 83.3 percent to 319.0 thousand. Arrivals from Russia were down by 33.2 percent to 7.7 thousand.

May

International arrivals also increased in May, up by 13.9 percent year-on-year to 2,512.8 thousand driving travel receipts up by 24.8 percent over 2022.

Arrivals by air grew by 14.2 percent compared to the same month in 2022 and by road through border stations up by 9.8 percent. BoG analysts attribute the rise to strong traveler arrivals from both within the EU, up by 12.7 percent, and from outside the EU, up by 15.8 percent.

Visiting Greece in May were mainly travelers from Germany, up by 17.4 percent to 513.2 thousand, France up by 28.6 percent to 204.5 thousand, the US up by 62.5 percent to 154.1 thousand, and Russia up to 3.0 thousand. However, the arrivals from the UK dropped in May by 10.2 percent to 368.9 thousand.