Tourism: In which destinations do foreign tourists leave their money?

By Vickys Kourlibini

South Aegean, Crete and Attica. These are the three Regions that gather the largest part of travel receipts, as reflected in a study by the Institute of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises entitled “Who goes where? How much does he stay? How much does he spend?” with the analysis of incoming tourism data (2021).

According to the study, the South Aegean Region collected 30.2% of tourism revenue, Crete 23.2%, Attica 14.2%, while the Ionian Islands 12.6%.

In particular, last year, the South Aegean Region maintained its first place in the ranking with collections of €3,121 million. The Region of Crete remained in second place with €2,395 million and €1,466 million flowed into Attica. The Region of the Ionian Islands rose to fourth place with €1,297 million. The Region of Central Macedonia fell to fifth place with receipts amounting to €1,012 million, the Peloponnese Region rose to sixth place with €250 million and the Thessaly Region to seventh with €179 million.

The first place in visits is also held by the South Aegean Region with 3,624 thousand visits. Most of the visits came from Germany (870 thousand), followed by travelers from the United Kingdom (414 thousand) and France (399 thousand). Crete was in second place with 3,148 thousand visits, of which 1,038 thousand came from Germany, 365 thousand from France and 219 thousand from the United Kingdom. In third place was the Region of Central Macedonia with 2,934 thousand visits, with the majority of visits coming from Bulgaria (529 thousand).

Visits to Attica amounted to 2,640 thousand, with the main sources being the United Kingdom (348 thousand), France (311 thousand) and Germany (286 thousand). The five Regions are completed by the Ionian Islands with 1,742 thousand visits. The main volume of visits came from the United Kingdom (409 thousand), followed by Germany (235 thousand) and Italy (206 thousand).

The x-ray of tourist traffic in Greece

In 2021 in Greece there was a significant increase in the Average Spend per Visit compared to 2019 (+30.7%, from €482 to €631) which was mainly caused by an increase in the Average Length of Stay (+26.4%, from 6.3 in 8), while the Cost per Night saw a slight increase (+3.4%, from €76 to €79).

On the other hand, a total of 16,376 thousand visits were made in the 13 Regions of the country, showing a decrease of -55.3% compared to 2019 when 36,643 thousand visits had been made. In the first place in the ranking of countries, based on the number of visits in 2021, Germany was retained, the United Kingdom rose to second place and France to third place.

Each visitor to Greece (corresponding to one arrival) on average visited 1.11 Regions in 2021. The corresponding average in 2019 was 1.17.

The expenditure per visit in the 13 Regions of the country in 2021 averaged €631, showing an increase of +30.7% compared to 2019 (€482). The average spend per night was €79, an increase of +3.4% compared to 2019 (€76).

This year’s image

Tourism is leaving behind the “signs” of the pandemic this year and everything shows that it is heading for a new revenue record, higher even compared to 2019 (when receipts exceeded 18 billion), reaching twenty billion according to forecasts. All popular tourist destinations are full. Occupancies are now over 90% in Crete, Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes and Kos. Likewise, the demand for the rest of the Cyclades islands is high, while the Iptane Islands are expected to reach 80% of the 2019 traffic.

Already according to the latest data from the Central Bank of Greece, in May revenues reached 1.41 billion euros, compared to 222 million euros in the corresponding month of 2021. In the five months, 2.5 billion euros have entered the tourist basket. The increase in travel receipts was driven by a 552.9% increase in inbound travel traffic as average spend per trip fell by 2.2%.