Page 181 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΟΚΤΩΒΡΙΟΣ 2024

TOURISM IN GREECE ON
A GROWTH TRAJECTORY by Manos Charitos
THE KEY DATA FOR 2024
With the summer of 2024 now behind us, the
data for Greece’s tourism sector once again
demonstrate its decisive role as a pillar of the
Greek economy, significantly contributing to
the country’s GDP and creating new jobs.
At the same time, the success of 2024 is not
yet fully reflected, since the data on Septem-
ber’s tourist traffic is not available.
Besides, Greece remains an attractive travel
destination throughout the year for both Greek
and foreign travellers. Dozens of cruise ships
call at popular destinations in the summer, but
also throughout the rest of the year, contrib-
uting to the Greek market’s constant growth,
while more and more companies choose the
country’s ports for ‘homeporting’.
JUMP IN TOURISM REVENUES IN
2024
2024 is estimated to be yet another strong
year for Greek tourism, with the data for the
first half of the year giving cause for optimism.
In the first half of the year, tourism revenues
reached €6.92 billion, recording an annual
increase of 12.2%, according to data from the
Bank of Greece.
Specifically, in June of this year alone, tourism
revenue rose by 7.7% year-on-year, totalling
$3.12 billion. However, average tourist spend-
ing was down by 3.3% during the first half of
the year and by 1.4% in June.
The majority of revenues in the first half came
from German tourists with over €1.2 billion,
followed by the British with just over €1 billion,
and the Americans with €540 million.
DATA ON TRAVEL
The increase in tourism revenue, despite the
drop in average spending, is attributed to the
rise in travel. In the first half of the year, arrivals
reached 11.6 million, up by 15.5% compared
to the previous year. Specifically, in June, 4.7
million travellers arrived in Greece, reflecting
an annual increase of 8.8%.
Travel through airports increased by 9.3%
compared to June 2023, while travel through
road border stations went up by 8.0%. The
increase in inbound travel traffic was driven
by both a 7.3% increase in travel traffic from
EU-27 countries and an 11.3% increase from
other countries.
In a recent report, the Hellenic Civil Aviation
Authority (HCAA) released data for the Janu-
ary-July 2024 period. Overall, passenger traffic
at Greece’s airports increased by 9.5% year-
on-year, with the total number of passengers
reaching 42.5 million, compared to 38.8 mil-
lion in the same period in 2023. In fact, a total
of 328,272 flights took place, marking a 6.9%
increase from the 306,982 flights that had
taken place in the January-July 2023 period.
Road tourism is also on the rise. According to
data from the Institute of the Association of
Greek Tourism Enterprises (INSETE), in the first
half of 2024, road tourism rose by 13.7%, with
international arrivals reaching 4 million, com-
pared to 3.5 million in the same period last year.
Moreover, Greece is becoming an increasingly
important player in the cruise market, a fact
also highlighted by MSC’s vote of confidence
in the port of Thessaloniki (ThPA). Specifically,
MSC will make seven luxury cruise ship calls
in Thessaloniki in 2025. Overall, in 2024, ThPA
is expected to welcome over 80 cruise ships.
THE MOST POPULAR DESTINATIONS
IN SUMMER 2024
The Cyclades islands topped the list of trav-
ellers’ preferences for the 15 August celebra-
tions. Based on booking data for the period
from 14 to 18 August, Paros, Naxos, Mykonos,
Santorini, and Tinos were the islands that
received the highest volume of passenger
traffic. Notably, although Santorini remained
among the most popular destinations, there
was a relative decrease in the island’s visitors
compared to last year.
The most popular destinations for Greeks
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