Greece: Direct Contribution Of Tourism To GDP Expected To Grow By 3% This Year

The direct contribution of travel and tourism to Greece’s gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to rise by 3.1 percent in 2014 and increase by 3.4 percent per annum, from 2014-2024, to 16.2 billion euros (7.4 percent of total GDP) in 2024, according to the recent “Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2014” report of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

Every year, WTTC carries out an economic analysis on the impact of the travel and tourism sector in 184 countries and 24 geographic and economic regions in the world.

According to the London-based council, the direct contribution of travel and tourism to Greece’s GDP in 2013 was 11.2 billion euros (6.5 percent of total GDP) and total contribution was 28.3 billion euros (16.3 percent of GDP). “It is forecast to rise by three percent in 2014,” the report reads.

Moreover, the research showed that the direct contribution of travel and tourism to Greece’s GDP is expected to increase by 3.7 percent per annum to 41.8 billion euros (19.1 percent of GDP) in 2024.

Employment – Visitor Exports – Investments

The WTTC report also assessed how the travel and tourism sector contributed to employment, as well as analyzing visitor exports and investments.

In 2013, the sector directly supported 319,500 jobs (8.9 percent of total employment). This is expected to rise by 2.6 percent in 2014 and increase by 1.7 percent per annum to 389,000 jobs (9.8 percent of total employment) in 2024.

Travel and tourism’s total contribution to employment last year, including jobs indirectly supported by the industry, was 18.2 percent of total employment (657,000 jobs). This is expected to rise by 2.7 percent in 2014 to 675,000 jobs and rise by 2.3 percent per annum to 846,000 jobs in 2024 (21.4 percent of total).

Last year, visitor exports generated 11 billion euros (24.0 percent of total exports). This is forecast to grow by 6.6 percent in 2014 and grow by 3.8 percent per annum, from 2014-2024, to 17.1 billion euros in 2024 (26.8 percent of total).

Travel and tourism investment in 2013 was 2.9 billion, or 13.7 percent of total investment. It should rise by 0.9 percent in 2014, and rise by 5.4 percent per annum over the next 10 years to 4.7 billion euros in 2024 (14.2 percent of total).

Leisure travelers vs Business visitors

Regarding the different components of travel and tourism, leisure travel spending (inbound and domestic) assumes greater importance, generating 93.7 percent of direct travel and tourism GDP in 2013, compared to the 6.3 percent registered for business travel spending.

Leisure travel spending is expected to grow by 4.4 percent this year, reaching 20.2 billion euros, whereas business travel spending is expected to fall by 1.5 percent.

Visitor spending: Domestic vs Foreign

Furthermore, it has been revealed that foreign visitor spending in Greece represented 57 percent in 2013 of direct travel and tourism GDP in 2013, whereas domestic travel spending generated only 43 percent. The latter is expected to fall this year, by 4.3 percent, with visitor exports expected to grow by 6.6 percent.

The WTTC report also provided rankings regarding last year: Greece is in the 27th place, out of 184 countries, in the rankings based on the relative importance of travel and tourism’s total contribution to GDP, in terms of the absolute sizes. The country is also in the 134th place in terms of growth for 2014 and 121st place in terms of long-term growth.

To see the full report, press here.