Lowest tourism takings in three years
Greece’s tourism revenues in the first 11 months of last year not only slumped below those of 2015, but also those of 2014, according to figures released on Monday by the Bank of Greece. At the same time, spending per trip posted a double-digit drop on an annual basis.
The decline in tourism revenues in the period from January to November 2016 amounted to 914.4 million euros compared to a year earlier. The 6.6 percent annual drop brought the figure to 13.03 billion euros, against 13.94 billion in the first 11 months of 2015 and 13.21 billion over the same period in 2014.
Spending per trip by visitors to Greece last year contracted 11.2 percent from 2015, averaging at 518.40 euros against 584 a year earlier.
The biggest decline was observed in spending by French tourists (down 299.1 million euros), followed by US visitors (by 221.9 million euros), Germans (92.4 million) and Britons (62.9 million). There was a 17.9-million-euro increase in takings from Russians.
Bank of Greece data showed that November brought a revenue contraction amounting to 13.8 percent year-on-year as takings reached 219.4 million euros. Spending per trip went down a considerable 24 percent to just 285.50 euros, from 375.80 euros in November 2015.
International arrivals in the period from January to November increased 4.9 percent on a yearly basis to come to 24.2 million, with air arrivals growing 8.6 percent and road arrivals down 4.9 percent. In November alone, international arrivals added up to 716,800, rising 11.7 percent year-on-year.
Figures put the travel surplus at 11.16 billion euros in the year to end-November, down 7.7 percent from the 12.08 billion recorded in 2015. This was due both to the 6.6 percent decline in travel revenues and the 0.7 percent increase in travel payments. Net revenues from the supply of travel services offset by 74 percent the deficit in the balance of goods and contributed by 75.5 percent to the sum of net takings from services. In November there was a travel surplus of 52 million euros, down 48.6 percent from the surplus of 101 million in November 2015.
