Greece’s museums saw visits rise by 8.7 pct in October

The number of visitors to Greece’s museums rose 8.7 percent in October and receipts grew by 21.2 percent, data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) showed on Tuesday, while free-admission visitors skyrocketed by 109.1 percent.

Visitors to archaeological sites, however, dipped by 0.6 percent, though free-admission visits rose 86.7 percent and overall receipts by 86.7 percent.

Overall receipts in October grew to 10.3 million euros from around 6 million euros in the same month in 2015, ELSTAT reported.

The Acropolis, the country’s biggest attraction, received 175,842 visitors in October last year compared with 208,907 in the same month in 2015, a decline of 15.8 percent. The Acropolis Museum fared better with a rise in visitors of 4.8 percent in October 2016 to 146,436 from 139,673 in the same month in 2015.

The biggest gainers were the Archaeological Museum of Iraklio in Crete, which saw visitor numbers grow by 41.1 percent in October 2016 to 43,998, and the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, where numbers rose by 12.9 percent to 50,402.

Ancient Corinth also grew in popularity in October, with visitor numbers rising by 8.8 percent to 19,146 from 17,600 in the same month in 2015.

In the January-October 2016 period, museum visitors shrank by 0.7 percent, free-admission visitors rose 36.8 percent and overall receipts grew by 7.8 percent compared with the same period in 2015, ELSTAT reported.

Archaeological sites saw the number of visitors shrink by 8.8 percent in January-October last year, though receipts rose by 67.9 percent, largely due to an increase in admission prices.

In total, Greece’s museums and archaeological sites recorded receipts of 83.1 million euros in January-October 2016, compared with 53.7 million euros in the same period in 2015.