2024-10-21 15:40:00
The country recorded a 6.6% increase in the number of foreign tourist arrivals in August, but industry revenues fell by 1.8% compared to August 2023.
Mixed results for Greek tourism. The country recorded a 6.6% increase in the number of foreign tourist arrivals in August, but the sector’s revenues fell by 1.8% compared to August 2023, the Bank of Greece said on Monday. Over the course of nine months, from January to August, “the number of tourists increased by 9.9% and revenues decreased by 3.2%”according to the Bank’s press release. A Mediterranean country whose economy is based on tourism, Greece recorded a record 32.7 million foreign tourists in 2023, up 17.6% compared to 2022 and exceeding the previous record of 31.3 million in 2019. This is despite the prolonged heat wave and forest fires that have caused the evacuation of thousands of tourists from the islands of Rhodes and Corfu, popular destinations, in the summer of 2023.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis estimated on Monday that 2024 will be a record year “a new record”during a press conference. The Ministry of Tourism is expected to release details soon “the precise image of the summer season, i.e. the number of arrivals and entries”the spokesperson said. However, the opinions of industry experts are divided. The most optimistic do not rule it out “a correction of the figures” towards an increase soon including September data, according to the website moneyreview.gr But other analysts believe there is “a new trend” in the sector: “people take fewer days off and spend less money”this is especially the case for citizens of Northern European countries, who according to this site make up the majority of tourists in Greece. According to the Athens Observatory, the summer of 2024 was the hottest on record in Greece, while August was the second warmest month after August 2021. These weather conditions also influence the length of stay of foreign tourists in Greece, moneyreview.gr reported.
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