Travel receipts may beat 2019

With hotel and flight seat occupancy for the coming months moving to pre-pandemic levels and average travel spending having risen significantly above the last pre-pandemic season, estimates for travel receipts this year point to 10% growth compared to 2019.

The second quarter already started with the travel receipts having increased by 20% in April from three years earlier and the early data show that they have continued so in May and June, say industry sources. The increase of receipts in July and August is expected to be even stronger.

In every year’s first quarter turnover typically corresponds to only 5% of the year, Q2 to 25% of the year, Q3 covers 60% and the fourth quarter the remaining 10%.

As an economist specializing in tourism explained to Kathimerini, “even if we have a mild return of the pandemic from the fall, the figures that will apparently be recorded in the second and third quarters are enough to cover both the losses of the first quarter and any bending of the fourth.”

Of course, these estimates do not include unforeseeable circumstances. Having said that, it follows that the forecast made during the general meeting of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) for a new receipts record is close to reality.

In particular, SETE President Yiannis Retsos stated that in 2022 tourism “can reach and, why not, exceed the revenues of 2019.” His predecessor and the CEO of the Sani/Ikos Group, Andreas Andreadis, spoke about revenues of the order of 20 billion euros.

However, the recovery and increase in revenue is not expected to be horizontal – i.e. not all destinations and all units will benefit from the increased revenue.

According to industry sources Kathimerini has contacted, the five- and four-star hotels in popular destinations were the first to record new highs, while lower-rated units and accommodation in not-such-well-known summer destinations, as well as also cities and winter destinations, are expected to recover at clearly lower rates.