Greeks spend less on trips inside Greece

Greeks slashed their spending on domestic tourism by 64 percent between 2008 and 2014, according to a study published on Wednesday by the Institute for Tourism Research and Forecasts (ITEP) that measured the impact of the economic crisis on the sector.

In 2014 Greeks spent 1.14 billion euros on vacations in Greece, down from 3.16 billion euros six years earlier, at the start of the recession. For the purposes of the survey, ITEP only counted trips of at least four nights in duration. The number of such trips to Greek destinations declined by 45.2 percent from 2008 to 2014.

The drop in spending on traveling abroad was even greater over the same period: Greeks spent 72.2 percent less in 2014 than in 2008 while traveling outside the country, as their expenditure declined from 1 billion euros in 2008 to just 293 million in 2014. Trips abroad more than halved (down 51.6 percent).

As for 2016, ITEP expects tourism arrivals from abroad to range between 25 and 27 million, possibly topping last year’s record.