Tourism Sector’s Contribution to the Greek Economy in 2023 Highest Ever

Aerial view of the beach and Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion at the edge of Attica, Greece. Photo source: Visit Greece

The Greek tourism sector boosted the country’s economy by 28.5 billion euros in 2023, accounting for 13 percent of GDP and recording highest ever performance, said INSETE, the Greek Tourism Confederation’s (SETE) research body.

More specifically, according to the study titled “Contribution of Tourism to the Greek Economy in 2023”, one in three euros going into state coffers in 2023 was generated from tourism demonstrating the growth of the sector as well as Greece’s growing reliance on tourism.

In 2022, the sector generated 23.9 billion euros representing 11.6 percent of GDP and in pre-pandemic 2019 23.1 billion euros accounting for 12.6 percent of GDP.

In total in 2023, directly and indirectly, tourism activities generated approximately 62.8 to 75.6 billion euros accounting somewhere between 28.5 percent and 34.3 percent of GDP.

Other key takeaways of the report include:

– inbound tourism accounted for 82.7 percent of all travel receipts in 2023

– during the peak summer season (Q3), tourism accounted for 16.4 percent of all jobs reaching 40 percent indirectly making the sector the country’s largest employer

– broken down: incoming tourism including cruise passenger spending generated 20.7 billion euros, air transport (2.5 billion euros), maritime transport (144 million euros), cruises (235 million euros), domestic tourism (2.5 billion euros), and domestic value added from investments (2.5 billion euros)

– average spending per person in 2023 came to 605.8 euros down by 2.3 percent over 2022

– average length of stay also dropped to seven nights from 7.8 a year earlier.

“In today’s full of challenges environment, the need for targeted strategies based on sustainable development is more imperative than ever. The effective management and governance of destinations and investments in infrastructure are the minimum conditions for the sector to maintain its competitiveness, offering the maximum possible boost to the Greek economy and society,” said INSETE General Manager Elias Kikilias commenting on the findings.