Greece Collects €3.2bn in Tourism Revenues in January-May

Acropolis Museum in athens.

Greece’s 32.9 percent increase in international arrivals in January-May 2023 boosted travel receipts by 30.7 percent for that period, according to provisional data released by the Bank of Greece (BoG) this week.

More specifically, according to central bank data, in the first five months of the year, travel receipts reached 3,244.3 million euros (some 3.2 billion euros), up by 30.7 percent compared to the same period in 2022.

Central bank analysts attribute the rise to stronger travel spending by EU travelers, up by 21.5 percent to 1,699.7 million euros (some 1.6 billion euros) and by non-EU residents, up by 41.2 percent to 1,416.4 million euros (some 1.4 billion euros).

Source: BoG.

Main source markets generating tourism revenues were Germany, with travel receipts up by 19.5 percent to 601.8 million euros, France up by 37.0 percent to 281.9 million euros, the UK up by 7.5 percent to 398.7 million euros, and the US up by 71.5 percent to 306.4 million euros with travel receipts from Russia dropping by 2.9 percent to 7.8 million euros.

In the month of May, a 13.9 percent rise in inbound traveler flows boosted travel receipts by 24.8 percent year-on-year.

EU travelers generated 997.2 million euros in travel receipts, a 22.4 percent rise, while non-EU resident receipts increased by 27.0 percent to 678.9 million euros compared to 534.7 million euros.

Markets boosting tourism-related revenues in May included Germany, accounting for 417.4 million euros in travel receipts, a 29.2 percent increase, France (160.7 million euros / +42.5 percent), the UK (262.3 million euros / +3.0 percent), and the US (159.2 million euros / +48.1 percent). Receipts from Russia dropped by 575.0 percent to 4.0 million euros in May.

Overall, from January to May this year, Greece welcomed some 5.76 million international travelers compared to 4.33 million in the same period a year ago.