Greece's travel sector surpasses 18 billion euros surplus in 2024 as inbound travellers surge
Greece's travel sector surpasses 18 billion euros surplus in 2024 as inbound travellers surge
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on May 8, 2025
(Reuters) -The Greek travel services sector saw a surplus of 18.79 billion euros ($21.24 billion) in 2024, a 3.4% increase from the previous year, according to final data from the Bank of Greece released on Thursday.
In 2024, travel receipts rose by 4.8% on the year, to 21.59 billion euros, driven by a 12.8% increase in non-resident inbound travellers and a 2.9% rise in average expenditure per overnight stay.
Receipts from residents of the 27-country European Union, which made up 55.4% of total receipts, grew by 7.1% to 11.97 billion euros, with Germany and Italy being the leading contributors to the growth.
On the other hand, receipts from France and non-EU member Britain decreased by 11.6% and 4.1% respectively.
In 2024, the number of inbound travellers to Greece reached 40.7 million, a 12.8% surge from the previous year, with the influx coming mainly through airports and road border-crossing points, the Bank of Greece said.
The cruise tourism sector also performed strongly, it added, with total receipts from cruise passengers increasing by 22.4% year-on-year, to 1.11 billion euros.
Despite these positive trends, the data showed that in 2024 the average expenditure per trip fell by 7.0% compared with 2023, while the average length of stay declined by 9.6%.
($1 = 0.8846 euros)
(Reporting by Antonis Pothitos; Editing by Alex Richardson)