Greece Welcomes Increase in Off-season Tourist Arrivals in Jan-Feb

Athens, Greece. Photo source: This is Athens-Convention & Visitors Bureau

The Greek Tourism Ministry’s priority to extend the tourist season appears to be paying off with the number of international arrivals to Greece in January and February – two off-season months – rising by 20.7 percent compared to the same period a year ago, found data released this week by the Bank of Greece (BoG).

More specifically, Greece welcomed 1,458.6 thousand arrivals – not counting cruise passengers – in the first two months of the year up from 1,208.1 thousand in 2023, who boosted revenues by 24.5 percent.

Arrivals through Greek airports rose by 19.0 percent and by 25.2 percent via road border-crossing points. The number of travelers from the EU increased by 37.3 percent year-on-year to 755.8 thousand and from outside the EU by 6.9 percent to 702.8 thousand.

Key source markets for the two months were Germany accounting for 132.7 thousand arrivals (+25.4 percent over 2023) and the US for 95.7 thousand (+158.4 percent).

Dropping were the number of tourists from France down by 9.1 percent to 69.9 thousand and the UK by 34.7 percent to 64.6 thousand.

In February, the number of inbound travelers rose by 26.0 percent over the same month a year ago to 721.3 thousand: up by 27.2 percent through airports and 25.6 percent via road border-crossing points driving travel receipts up by 22.2 percent. Main source markets for the month were Germany with 62.5 thousand arrivals (+51.6 percent) and the US with 41.1 thousand (+87.8 percent).

Meanwhile, the number of arrivals from France dropped in February by 39.8 percent and from the UK by 28.1 percent.