2024-04-28 08:02:43
This is one of the most critical “indicators” monitored by tourism entrepreneurs, as it determines to a significant degree both the course of the year’s tourism revenues, while also giving an image of the income level of foreign visitors who come to our country.
According to the latest data from the Bank of Greece, the average expenditure per trip of visitors from abroad in the first two months reached 387 euros, increased by 3.3% compared to last year, when it was 375 euros. At the same time, it is also higher compared to 2019, when the average expenditure per trip of non-visitors was 378 euros during the same period.
However, the picture is not the same if we examine February individually, when the average expenditure this year was 400 euros. Last year it was slightly higher at 413 euros, just like in 2019 when it reached 414 euros.
The “landscape”, as noted by hoteliers and businesses in the area, is not yet clear, as we are now essentially entering the “heart” of the tourist season and the island destinations and seasonal accommodations are opening. In any case, they are anxiously waiting to see how the tourist basket will develop, with the prospects nevertheless being very positive for the course of revenues, despite the rise in prices (it should be remembered that the prices in the hoteliers’ contracts with the tour operators are by 10% more expensive compared to last year).
Market sources, even if they avoid making estimates and predictions regarding the revenue targets, appear optimistic that – barring a major windfall – we will do better in terms of receipts compared to last year, when 20.459 billion euros had entered the fund. In February, however, travel receipts recorded a new increase of 22.2%, reaching 291.4 million euros, while in the two-month period the revenues were 570 million euros, up by 24.5% compared to the corresponding period of 2023.
And arrivals were equally strong (inbound travel traffic in February amounted to 721.3 thousand travelers, increased by 26% compared to the corresponding month of 2023, while in the two months it increased by 20.7%, approaching 1, 5 million visitors from abroad already).
Finally, it is noted that in 2023 the average expenditure per trip of non-residents in Greece amounted to 603 euros, when in 2022 it was 620 euros (change -2.7%), while in 2021 it reached 702 euros. Compared to 2019, however, the year before the pandemic, an increase was recorded, as the average expenditure of foreign visitors per trip was 563 euros. The differences in the “wallet” of tourists at the level of the year compared to the two months, basically lie in the length of their stay in our country. For example, in the spring they come for a few days’ vacation and mainly visit Athens, while in the summer the stay exceeds one week.
Source capital.gr