Upward Trends for Tourist Arrivals by Road, Car Rentals in Greece

The number of tourists arriving by road to Greece is expected to increase this year on the back of a 30.45 percent rise in road arrivals in 2023, found data released by INSETE, the Greek Tourism Confederation’s (SETE) research body.

More specifically, international arrivals by road through Greece’s border check points exceeded 10.4 million in 2023 up from 8 million in 2022.

At the same time, strong incoming tourist flows to Greece are also driving car rentals up. According to INSETE data, car rentals dropped in 2020 as a result of the pandemic but sales recovered in 2023, when more than 1.1 million people used the car for a main means of transport up from 910,000 in 2022.

Overall, car rentals in 2023 generated a total of 252 million euros in revenues compared to 223 million euros in 2022 marking a 13 percent rise. However when compared to pre-Covid 2019, revenues were down by 3 percent over 260 million euros.

Market insiders are expecting car rental activity to reach new highs this year despite increasing competition and illegally operating companies at popular destinations.

According to INSETE, online sales last year were close to 2022 levels, which accounted for 46 percent of all sales compared to 54 percent offline. Online sales have been on an upward trend since 2018, when online sales represented 44 percent of all sales compared to 56 percent offline.