Increase in average tourist spend in Greece in 2019 - Increase in travel receipts
tourism
22 Jan 2020
/ 08:16
ATHENS. Ionian Islands in 5th place for travel receipts with €1.840m and 2.854k visits in the first 9 months. Only Piraeus had greater receipts than Corfu Port from cruise ships.
The average spend per trip increased by 61 Euros in January - September 2019 compared to the same period in 2018 according to final data from the Bank of Greece. This was the basic reason for the increase in travel receipts by almost 2bn Euros in the 9-month period (+ 14%).
The average spend per visit came to 559 Euros compared to 498 for the same period in 2018.
Specifically, expenditure per overnight stay rose by 10.7% (January-September 2019: €77, January-September 2018: €70), while the average length of stay was 7.3 nights - a 1.5% increase compared to the same period in 2018.
Τotal overnight stays in January-September 2019 rose by 3.1% to 209,349 thousand from 202,974 thousand in January-September 2018.
Travel receipts
In January-September 2019, travel receipts totalled €16,107 million, up by 14.1% compared to the same period in 2018. Receipts from Eurozone residents increased by 9.3% to €6,883 million, while receipts from residents of non-Eurozone EU28 countries increased by 19% to €4,217 million.
Among major countries of origin, receipts from Germany fell by 0.9% to €2,565 million, whereas receipts from France increased by 18.4% to €997 million. Receipts from the UK increased by 35.8% to €2,367 million. As regards non-EU28 countries, receipts from the United States rose by 22.8% to €1,011 million and receipts from Russia increased by 21.3% to €373 million.
Overnight stays
In January-September 2019, overnight stays in Greece totalled 209,349 thousand, up by 3.1% from 202,974 thousand in January-September 2018.
The number of overnight stays decreased by 12.4% for German residents and by 1.9% for French residents, whereas it increased by 19.3% for UK residents.
Cruises
Since 2012, the Bank of Greece has conducted a Cruise Survey in order to enrich the data collected through its Border Survey. Following a standardised methodology, detailed cruise data for the period January-September 2019 was collected at 16 Greek ports, covering 83.8% of all cruise ship arrivals in Greece.
During the period under review there were 2,972 cruise ship arrivals (January-September 2018: 2,562) with 4,106 thousand cruise passenger visits (January-September 2018: 3,781 thousand). According to the Cruise Survey, 89.7% of all cruise passengers were transit visitors, with an average of 2.1 stopovers at Greek ports of call (up from 1.5 stopovers in January-September 2018).
Total receipts from cruise passengers in the period January-September 2019 rose by 10.9% to €426 million, of which €44 million was already included in the Border Survey data, as it represents receipts from visitors leaving the country through Greek last ports, while the remaining €382 million is from additional receipts data recorded by the Cruise Survey.
As shown by the Border Survey, travel receipts (excluding cruises) for the period January-September 2019 amounted to €15,725 million.
Five regions accounted for the bulk (87.9%) of total receipts, namely: the Southern Aegean (€4,698 million), Crete (€3,195 million), Central Macedonia (€2,049 million), Attica (€2,040 million) and the Ionian Islands (€1,840 million).
The six most popular regional destinations, accounting for 87.0% of total visits, were: the Southern Aegean (6,026 thousand visits), Central Macedonia (5,903 thousand), Attica (4,655 thousand), Crete (4,584 thousand), Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (3,217 thousand) and the Ionian Islands (2,854 thousand).
The average spend per visit came to 559 Euros compared to 498 for the same period in 2018.
Specifically, expenditure per overnight stay rose by 10.7% (January-September 2019: €77, January-September 2018: €70), while the average length of stay was 7.3 nights - a 1.5% increase compared to the same period in 2018.
Τotal overnight stays in January-September 2019 rose by 3.1% to 209,349 thousand from 202,974 thousand in January-September 2018.
Travel receipts
In January-September 2019, travel receipts totalled €16,107 million, up by 14.1% compared to the same period in 2018. Receipts from Eurozone residents increased by 9.3% to €6,883 million, while receipts from residents of non-Eurozone EU28 countries increased by 19% to €4,217 million.
Among major countries of origin, receipts from Germany fell by 0.9% to €2,565 million, whereas receipts from France increased by 18.4% to €997 million. Receipts from the UK increased by 35.8% to €2,367 million. As regards non-EU28 countries, receipts from the United States rose by 22.8% to €1,011 million and receipts from Russia increased by 21.3% to €373 million.
Overnight stays
In January-September 2019, overnight stays in Greece totalled 209,349 thousand, up by 3.1% from 202,974 thousand in January-September 2018.
The number of overnight stays decreased by 12.4% for German residents and by 1.9% for French residents, whereas it increased by 19.3% for UK residents.
Cruises
Since 2012, the Bank of Greece has conducted a Cruise Survey in order to enrich the data collected through its Border Survey. Following a standardised methodology, detailed cruise data for the period January-September 2019 was collected at 16 Greek ports, covering 83.8% of all cruise ship arrivals in Greece.
During the period under review there were 2,972 cruise ship arrivals (January-September 2018: 2,562) with 4,106 thousand cruise passenger visits (January-September 2018: 3,781 thousand). According to the Cruise Survey, 89.7% of all cruise passengers were transit visitors, with an average of 2.1 stopovers at Greek ports of call (up from 1.5 stopovers in January-September 2018).
Total receipts from cruise passengers in the period January-September 2019 rose by 10.9% to €426 million, of which €44 million was already included in the Border Survey data, as it represents receipts from visitors leaving the country through Greek last ports, while the remaining €382 million is from additional receipts data recorded by the Cruise Survey.
The port of Piraeus ranks first with a share of 44.8% in total cruise receipts, followed by the port of Corfu with 14.2% and the port of Mykonos with 9.4%.
As shown by the Border Survey, travel receipts (excluding cruises) for the period January-September 2019 amounted to €15,725 million.
Five regions accounted for the bulk (87.9%) of total receipts, namely: the Southern Aegean (€4,698 million), Crete (€3,195 million), Central Macedonia (€2,049 million), Attica (€2,040 million) and the Ionian Islands (€1,840 million).
The six most popular regional destinations, accounting for 87.0% of total visits, were: the Southern Aegean (6,026 thousand visits), Central Macedonia (5,903 thousand), Attica (4,655 thousand), Crete (4,584 thousand), Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (3,217 thousand) and the Ionian Islands (2,854 thousand).
