Greek Tourism 2024 | The final performance in revenues, arrivals, cruises, and regions

The final data on the performance of Greek tourism in 2024 was released today by the Bank of Greece.

The main findings:

Travel receipts increased by 4.8% compared to 2023.
Inbound travel traffic increased by 12.8% compared to 2023.
Overnight stays increased by 1.9% compared to 2023.
Total receipts from cruise passengers increased by 22.4% compared to 2023.
The Attica Region recorded the largest volume of visits, while the South Aegean Region recorded the largest participation in total receipts and overnight stays in 2024.
The data in detail:

Travel balance

According to the final data, in 2024 the travel balance surplus amounted to 18,787.0 million. euros, compared to a surplus of 18,162.0 million euros in 2023, an increase of 3.4%. This development is due to the greater increase in travel receipts (by 998.7 million euros or 4.8%) than in travel payments (by 373.6 million euros or 15.4%). The increase in travel receipts in 2024 compared to 2023 was the result of a 12.8% increase in inbound non-resident travellers, as well as an average expenditure per overnight stay of 2.5 euros or 2.9% (2024: 89.7 euros, 2023: 87.2 euros).

In detail, the average expenditure per trip decreased by 7.0% (2024: 530.6 euros, 2023: 570.7 euros), as well as the average length of stay, which decreased by 9.6% and amounted to 5.9 nights (2023: 6.5 nights). The total number of nights in 2024 increased by 1.9% and amounted to 240,816.6 thousand nights (2023: 236,271.2 thousand nights).

Travel receipts

Travel receipts in 2024 amounted to 21,592.3 million. euros, showing an increase of 4.8% compared to 2023. This development is due to the increase of 7.1% in receipts from residents of EU-27 countries, which amounted to 11,966.1 million euros, representing 55.4% of total receipts, as well as the increase of 0.6% in receipts from residents of other countries, which amounted to 8,625.6 million euros.

In detail, receipts from residents of euro area countries amounted to 9,474.3 million euros in 2024, showing an increase of 4.5% compared to the previous year, while receipts from residents of EU-27 countries outside the euro area amounted to 2,491.8 million euros, increasing by 18.4%.

Regarding the most important countries of origin of travelers, receipts from Germany increased by 3.7% and amounted to 3,702.0 million euros, while receipts from France decreased by 11.6% and amounted to 1,259.6 million euros. Receipts from Italy increased by 13.6%, which amounted to 1,225.5 million euros. Among other countries, receipts from the USA increased by 15.3%, which amounted to 1,583.8 million euros, while receipts from the United Kingdom decreased by 4.1% and amounted to 3,159.8 million euros. Finally, receipts from Russia decreased by 51.5% and amounted to 15.7 million euros.

Travel receipts by travel purpose

Regarding the distribution of non-resident travel expenditure in Greece by travel purpose, the main volume of receipts is related to travel for personal reasons, whose share in total travel receipts was 93.5% in 2024, compared to 94.7% in 2023, while total receipts from travel for personal reasons increased by 3.6%. Within this category, the largest share of total receipts is for leisure travel (2024: 87.1%, 2023: 87.9%). Receipts from leisure travel increased by 3.9% compared to the previous year and amounted to 18,803.3 million euros.

Receipts from trips to visit relatives/family increased by 5.3%, but their share of total travel receipts stood at 4.4%, the same as in 2023. Receipts from health-related trips decreased by 17.2%, reaching 30.6 million euros. Finally, receipts from business trips increased by 27.3%, with their share of total travel receipts standing at 6.5% (2023: 5.3%).

Inbound travel traffic

As mentioned above, inbound travel traffic in 2024 increased by 12.8% and amounted to 40,693.9 thousand travelers, compared to 36,082.7 thousand travelers in 2023. In particular, travel traffic through airports increased by 10.7% and that through road border posts by 8.9%. The EU-27 countries contributed to the formation of travel traffic with a participation rate of 53.5%, and other countries with a percentage of 34.8%. In 2024, travel traffic from EU-27 countries increased by 11.0% compared to 2023. This development is due to both the 12.2% increase in travel traffic from euro area countries, which amounted to 14,491.0 thousand travelers, and the 8.6% increase from EU-27 countries outside the euro area, which amounted to 7,304.1 thousand travelers. In particular, travel traffic from Germany increased by 13.4%, which amounted to 5,402.3 thousand travelers, as did that from Italy by 10.0%, which amounted to 2,025.9 thousand travelers. An 8.8% increase was also recorded in travel traffic from France, which amounted to 1,992.4 thousand. travelers.

Finally, travel traffic from other countries increased by 8.1% and amounted to 14,156.3 thousand travelers. Specifically, travel traffic from the USA increased by 10.0%, which amounted to 1,547.4 thousand travelers. Travel traffic from the United Kingdom decreased by 1.0% and amounted to 4,545.5 thousand travelers, while that from Russia decreased by 54.9% to 16.1 thousand travelers.

Overnight stays

Overnight stays by non-resident travelers in Greece amounted to 240,816.6 thousand in 2024, compared to 236,271.2 thousand in 2023, showing an increase of 1.9%. This is due to an increase in overnight stays by EU-27 residents by 4.9%, as the number of overnight stays by residents of other countries decreased by 3.9%. The increase in overnight stays by EU-27 residents reflects an increase in overnight stays by euro area countries by 3.7%, as well as in overnight stays by EU-27 countries outside the euro area by 9.6%. Overnight stays from Germany increased by 7.4% compared to 2023, while those from France decreased by 4.4%. Overnight stays from Italy also decreased by 5.7%. Among other countries, overnight stays from the United Kingdom decreased by 6.4%, while those from the United States decreased by 1.4%. Finally, overnight stays from Russia also decreased by 69.4%.

Cruises

The Bank of Greece has been conducting a supplementary survey on the cruise sector since 2012, with the aim of enriching the statistical data derived from the Border Survey. Following the now-established methodology, detailed data were collected for 2024 from 16 Greek ports, which covered 86.3% of total cruise ship arrivals in the country.

In 2024, total receipts from cruise passengers increased by 22.4% compared to 2023 and amounted to 1,112.2 million euros, of which 111.5 million euros are included in the data recorded by the Border Survey, as they concern travelers who departed from Greece (last port), while 1,000.6 million euros represent additional revenues recorded in the supplementary survey.

The main port in terms of cruise receipts is Piraeus, with a participation of 48.5% of the total. The port of Corfu and the port of Heraklion follow with 11.8% and 8.0% of receipts, respectively.

During the year under review, 5,308 cruise ship arrivals were recorded (2023: 5,152 arrivals). Total overnight stays of passengers other than cruise ships increased in 2024 by 31.5% compared to 2023 and amounted to 12,387.5 thousand. overnight stays, positively influencing the formation of cruise revenues. Total cruise passengers are estimated at 5,011.1 thousand, showing an increase of 43.8%.

The main port in terms of cruise ship arrivals is Piraeus, with a participation of 15.3% of the total. The port of Mykonos and the port of Santorini follow with 14.5% and 14.1% of cruise ship arrivals, respectively.

In 2024, total cruise passenger visits amounted to 7,826.4 thousand, compared to 6,964.2 thousand visits in 2023, recording an increase of 12.4%. The supplementary cruise survey revealed that 81.2% of passengers were transit visitors, who made an average of 1.6 stops in Greek ports. The seven most important cruise ship ports of call account for 90.5% of total cruise revenues and 82.0% of total passenger visits.

Travel balance by region

As shown by the Border Survey, travel receipts in 2024 amounted to 20,591.7 million euros. The main volume of receipts, at 89.7% of the total, was made in five regions, as follows:

South Aegean Region (5,687.4 million euros),
Attica Region (4,750.9 million euros),
Crete Region (4,568.7 million euros),
Ionian Islands Region (1,983.6 million euros) and
Central Macedonia Region (1,486.0 million euros).

In the remaining regions (Region of Epirus, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Peloponnese, Western Greece, Thessaly, Central Greece, Northern Aegean and Western Macedonia), receipts amounted to 2,115.1 million euros.

In 2024, travelers who visited Greece made a total of 39,354.9 thousand visits to the 13 regions of the country. This number is higher than the inbound travel traffic estimated by the Border Survey (35,951.4 thousand travelers), as a traveler can visit more than one region during his trip.

The largest volume of visits, at 83.3% of the total, took place in five regions, as follows: Region of Attica (8,784.8 thousand), Region of South Aegean (7,563.5 thousand), Region of Central Macedonia (7,028.7 thousand), Region of Crete (5,959.0 thousand) and Region of Ionian Islands (3,432.9 thousand). In the remaining regions (Regions of Epirus, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Peloponnese, Thessaly, Western Greece, Central Greece, Northern Aegean and Western Macedonia), 6,586.0 thousand visits were made.

Traveler overnight stays in Greece amounted to 231,037.6 thousand during the period under review. According to the distribution of overnight stays in the 13 regions of the country, 87.2% of overnight stays occurred in five regions, as follows: South Aegean Region (51,269.3 thousand), Attica Region (47,817.5 thousand), Crete Region (46,705.6 thousand), Central Macedonia Region (31,026.4 thousand) and Ionian Islands Region (24,680.8 thousand). In all of the remaining regions (Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Epirus, Peloponnese, Thessaly, North Aegean, Western Greece, Central Greece, and Western Macedonia) 29,537.9 thousand overnight stays were recorded.

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