Tourism revenue drops in Greece despite sharp summer tourism crunch

Non-resident arrivals in Greece from January to August elevated by 9.9 % from the identical interval a 12 months earlier, whereas income rose by simply 3.2 %, the financial institution mentioned.

In August alone, trade income fell by 1.8 % in comparison with final 12 months even because the variety of vacationers grew by 6.6 %, it mentioned.

Authorities spokesman Pavlos Marinakis downplayed the development, telling reporters on Monday that “general figures for the complete season point out we’re heading in direction of one other document 12 months”.

Figures might stability out by the top of the 12 months, as soon as September is taken under consideration, in line with the monetary information web site moneyreview.gr.

Some consultants blamed record-high temperatures and heatwaves for shorter stays, in addition to northern European vacationers — the bulk in Greece — more and more taking much less time without work and reducing spending.

A record-breaking 32.7 million international vacationers visited the Mediterranean nation in 2023. Greece’s Nationwide Financial institution in June mentioned it anticipated that determine to hit 35 million in 2024.

Acknowledging the pressure on some well-liked locations equivalent to Mykonos and Santorini, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis final month introduced a 20-euro ($22) price on cruise passengers disembarking on the islands.

However the premier has insisted that Greece “doesn’t have an overtourism drawback”.

What the nation does face, he mentioned at a tourism occasion final week, is a “main focus of vacationers in just a few particular locations over just a few months in the course of the 12 months”.

Services have been stretched on some Aegean islands, Mitsotakis mentioned, and authorities have quickly frozen new tourism development permits on Mykonos and Santorini.