ING: Greece Sets Strong Tourism Foundations in 2023

Kefalonia Island, Greece. Photo source: GNTO

Greece is among the countries in Southern Europe to have fully reached or even exceeded pre-pandemic 2019 tourism levels but other destinations are still lagging behind, found a report released this week by Dutch banking group ING.

More specifically, the number of overnight stays in Southern Europe surpassed pre-Covid levels for the first time in 2023 with Portugal, Greece and France breaking records despite rising inflation, a slowdown in growth, escalating geopolitical tensions and conflicts, and without the Russian and Chinese markets.

However, looking ahead, banking analysts are expecting the effect on growth rates to fade this year.

Overall last year, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, and Portugal fully recouped 2019 tourism levels. In the first 10 months of the year, the number of room nights reached 1.46 billion.

After Portugal, Greece also saw soaring tourism figures in 2023. Indicatively, the number of nights spent by tourists increased by 63 percent way above Spain, (24 percent), Italy (13 percent) and France (11 percent).

Meanwhile, analysts attribute GDP growth in Southern Europe, which exceeded the Eurozone average in 2023, to the ongoing recovery of the sector, which in turn created jobs.

Looking ahead, ING analysts expect tourism growth to slow down but remain positive thanks to easing inflation, a rise in salaries, and an increase in arrivals from China.