Greece saw a small drop in tourism revenue in August 2024, even though more tourists visited the country compared to the same month last year, according to data released by the Bank of Greece.
Tourism revenue saw a revenue decline of 1.8 percent compared to the same month last year, despite a 6.6 percent rise in arrivals. According to data from the Bank of Greece, in August 2024, revenues were 78.6 million euros lower than in August of 2023. This decrease occurred even though the number of non-resident travelers increased by 6.6 percent.
Tourism revenue in Greece has continued to fall, marking the second consecutive month of decline. Tourism receipts posted a 4.2 percent decline in July from the same month last year, even though arrivals increased by 4.1 percent year-on-year.
Concern over tourism revenue drop in Greece
This trend has led to concerns within the domestic tourism industry, and there is debate about whether it is a global issue or specific to Greece.
A recent report by the the National Bank concluded that tourism revenue has been underestimated. The report cites a number of reasons for this shortfall, and particularly the expansion of short-term rentals and the intense seasonality of Greek tourism.
The border survey, which provided the data for the travel balance, may not accurately capture tourism expenditure that deviates from the norm. For example, respondents staying in short-term rentals may underestimate their spending on food. Intense seasonality, moreover, makes research difficult, as a very large number of tourists arrive in a short period of time.
Other tourism experts attribute the reported decline in revenue to several factors, including, first of all, the fact that tourists spend less on non-hotel-related expenses as noted by restaurant owners in tourist areas.
Furthermore, short-term rental properties, such as Airbnbs, are becoming increasingly more popular where total spending is considerably lower compared to hotels.
The changing spending habits of tourists are also impacting revenues. Tourists are more cautious with their spending this year, which is most likely linked to the economic situation in their home country.
Finally, higher airfare prices reduce the amount left in tourists’ budgets for accommodation and dining, as experts from the tourism sector note.
Year-to-year tourism revenue
However, for the eight months from January to August, overall travel revenues reached 15.179 billion euros, up from 14.703 billion euros during the same period in 2023, marking a 3.23 percent increase.
To maintain year-over-year parity in tourism revenues, the remaining months of the year would need to experience a revenue drop of more than 476.1 million euros, which is the current year-to-year difference for the first eight months. This would mean an 8.22 percent decline if compared with last year’s September to December revenue.
Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni stated recently that the projection for the entire year is for total revenues of €22 billion from tourism, comfortably beating last year’s all-time high takings of €20.6 billion.
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