Greece’s Goal to Extend Tourism Season Paying Off, Says Study

Monastiraki Square, Athens, Greece.

Greece’s goal to extend the tourism season is paying off with some 9.3 million tourists visiting the country in the fall marking a 6 percent rise over pre-pandemic 2019, found data released recently by the National Bank of Greece (NBG).

More specifically, according to NBG’s latest “Business Trends” study, arrivals increased by 13 percent in October and November helped by the good weather and offsetting the effects of the extreme weather in September (+1 percent).

At the same time, arrivals marked a double-digit rise in December with tourist revenue reaching 20.5 billion euros in 2023.

According to NBG analysts, the last quarter of 2023, the introduction of more flights, larger planes, and more long-haul connections are indicative a positive dynamic in 2024. However they add, vigilance is still required due to geopolitical and climate risks.

The country’s traditional source markets – Germany, the UK, the US and France – drove tourism in 2023 and increased their share to 43 percent of total tourist flows to Greece in the 2019-2023 period up from 35 percent.

Indicatively, in the autumn months of 2023 there were 800,000 more tourists from Germany and the UK compared to 2019 and 70,000 from the US.

According to the NBG report, hotel sales in Greece in autumn last year increased by 7 percent year on year with the islands seeing a 6 percent rise, urban centers (+8 percent), mainland Greece (+14 percent) and for the first time exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

On the downside, traditional favorites Mykonos and Santorini marked declines due to limited demand (-9 percent), as did Thessaly (-2 percent) following the devasting floods last September.

NBG analysts note that the extreme weather last year took a toll on the sector’s seasonality. At the same time, Greece lost a part of its share last year in the Mediterranean market down to 16.4 percent from 16.9 percent in 2019 lagging behind Italy and Portugal.