Tourists may reach 35 mln by 2021
Greece can expect to receive about 35 million holidaymakers in 2021, while its direct tourism revenues are projected to range around 19-20 billion euros in that year, not including revenues from transport services, according to the latest study by consulting firm McKinsey and the Association of Hellenic Tourism Enterprises (SETE).
Addressing the inaugural Thessaloniki Summit, organized by the Association of Industries of Northern Greece, SETE president Andreas Andreadis noted on Friday that tourism revenues this year will marginally surpass the record takings of 2015, when they amounted to 14.2 billion euros.
He added that tourism revenues in Greece have risen by almost 40 percent since 2010, while the country’s economy has shrunk by about 25 percent in the same period.
The head of the country’s tourism professionals further remarked that this year – for the first time in a decade – Greece has exceeded neighboring Turkey in terms of tourism arrivals, with the final total expected to come to 27.5 million. That figure also includes cruise passengers who come to Greece. The figure for Turkey, on the other hand, is forecast to drop to 26 million visitors, owing to the adverse political and security conditions in that country.
