Greek Tourism Boosts Employment by 23% in 2014

Tourism bolstered employment by 23 percent in 2014, according to data released by the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) based on statistics by IKA, the country’s largest social security fund.

According to IKA figures presented by SETE Intelligence, the association’s research department, a total of 137,000 jobs were recorded in July 2014, up by 36 percent compared to July 2013.

In 2014, employee salaries in the tourism sector came to 3.8 billion euros, up by almost 500 million euros compared with 2013. The average wage in the accommodation sector exceeded 1,000 euros.

The industry’s total social security and heath contributions to IKA increased by 200 million euros to 1.6 billion euros, which makes up 16 percent of the fund’s total revenue, a figure that exceeds tourism’s direct contribution to the country’s GDP.