Industry Reports & Trends

Greece leads the list of top countries most frequently preferred in package tours by Turkish citizens traveling abroad, according to the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB).

Greece’s current account surplus widened in September, the Bank of Greece said on Tuesday (19 November), helped by a rise in tourism receipts.

Positive data was released recently by a report providing a snapshot of the performance and outlook of the Greek hotel industry, within the broader context of Greek tourism and Greek socioeconomic developments.

Greek hoteliers are optimistic for the last quarter of this year, according to the latest tourism barometer report on the expectations of the Greek hospitality sector for the fourth quarter of 2013, conducted by GBR Consulting.

Tourists did flock to Greece in August but it seems that they did not spend much money, according to a survey conducted by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels and the TNS ICAP and Quantros companies.

Visitors to Greek museums in July increased by 18.2 percent and revenue from receipts were up by 14.7 percent compared with the same month of 2012, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) announced on 11 November.

Greece experienced its best October of all time last month in terms of international arrivals to Greek airports, according to the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE).

The number of British travelers to Greece during the January-August 2013 period increased by 4.2 percent, according to the British Civil Aviation Authority. This percentage approximately represents an extra 71,443 visitors to Greece from the UK.

“Greece is the winner of the summer season,” the program coordinator of travel giant TUI for Austria, Margit Empner, said recently while presenting a report for the 2013 tourism year that ended in late October.

With a 15 percent increase in tourism receipts, Greece was mentioned in the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer among the 25 largest international tourism earners that saw their receipts grow by double-digits for the first six to eight months of 2013.