Study: Greece’s Top 5 Tourism Revenue Markets in 2023

Photos source: P. Merakos, Visit Greece

German and British tourists emerged as the primary contributors to Greece’s tourism revenue in 2023, according to a recent market profile study by INSETE, the research institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), released in July.

The data, analyzed by INSETE and compiled by the Bank of Greece, reveals that French tourists ranked third, followed by Americans and Italians, albeit with significant differences in both numbers and total expenditure compared to the top two contributors.

Overall, Greece’s tourism market maintained strong momentum in 2023, rebounding positively from previous setbacks exacerbated by the global economic impact of COVID-19. Arrivals increased by 18 percent from 2022 to 32.7 million visitors, overnight stays rose by 5 percent to 227.9 million, and revenue surged by 14 percent, reaching 19.7 billion euros from 17.3 billion euros in 2022.

The Germans

With an increase of 9 percent over 2022, the number of German tourists arriving to Greece in 2023 came to 4,764,000. Their overnight stay remained stable during the same period at 43,638,000 and their total spending amounted to 3.571 billion euros, also increasing by 10 percent. In terms of market shares, German tourists accounted by arrival numbers to 14.6 percent, by number of overnight stays to 19.1 percent and by total expenditure to 18.1 percent.

Germans prefer to spend their vacation in Greece first and foremost in the southern Aegean islands, Crete and Central Macedonia.

The British

The number of tourists arriving to Greece from the United Kingdom in 2023 amounted to 4.6 million in 2023, increasing by 31.2 percentage points since 2019 and by 2.4 percentage points from 2022 to 2023. In terms of arrivals, the British in 2023 covered 14 percent of the Greek market, with the southern Aegean and the Ionian islands as well as the Region of Attica being their favorite destinations.

Between 2019 and 2023 revenues from British tourists increased by 28.5 percent and specifically from 2.6 to 3.3 billion euros, with the increase between 2022 and 2023 amounting to 5.3 percentage points from 3.1 to the foresaid 3.3 billion.

The French

Photo source: Visit Greece

With 1.831 million arrivals in 2023, French tourists covered a share of 5.6 percent of the Greek tourist market, increased by 4.2 percent, with their overnight stays amounting to 14.568 million and equaling to 6.4 percent, reduced by 1.5 percent since the year before and their expenditure calculated at 1.425 billion and 7.2 percent of the total spent in the Greek tourist market, with an increase of 11.6 percentage points.

In 2023, French tourists exhibited a preference for Crete, Attica and the southern Aegean islands.

The Americans

With 1.4 million Americans visiting Greece in 2023, their number equaled 4.3 percent of all arrivals in Greece and was increased by 19.3 percentage points over 2019 and by 29.2 percent over 2022. It is also worth noting that their overnight stays increased between 2022 and 2023 by 23.1 percentage points, from 12.2 million to 15 million, with revenues for the Greek market rising from 1.2  in 2022 to 1.4 billion  euros in 2023.

The share of American tourist spending in the Greek market equaled 7 percent in 2023 and was the same as in 2019, while having increased from 2022, when it amounted to 6.7 points.

Attica, the southern Aegean islands and Peloponnisos were the three top destinations for Americans in Greece in the summer of 2023.

The Italians

Photo source: Freepik

According to data, 1.8 million Italians spent their vacation in Greece in 2023, with a whopping 67.7 percent of them arriving in the country during the 3^rd quarter of the year. Arrivals of Italian tourists to Greece increased between 2019 and 2023 by 18.6 percentage points and by 30.4 percent from 2022 to 2023. For 2023 and in terms of arrivals, Italians accounted for 5.6 percent of the Greek market, with 5.1 in 2022 and 5 in 2019. Between 2019 and 2023 Italians increased their overnight stays in Greece by 15.7 percent to 14.6 million while their increase between 2022 and 2023 came to an impressive 33.3 percent.

Revenue from Italian tourists in Greece amounted to almost 1.1 billion in 2023, increased by 6.9 percentage points over 2019 and by 16.4 percent over 2022. In 2023, revenue from the Italians rose to 5.7 percent as a part of the total, increased from 5.4 percent a year earlier.

Italians’ destinations of preference on Greece were in 2023 the southern Aegean islands, the Ionian islands and Attica.

INSETE’s study “Focus on Inbound Tourism 2019-2023 – Market Profiles” was coauthored by analyst Serafeim Koutsos, and Dr. Aris Ikkos, ISHC and Research Director at INSETE.