Tourism Industry Vital for Employment in Greece, Figures Show

Greek tourism contributes to the country’s employment and boosts the revenue of social security funds, more than other sectors of the economy, according to the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE).

According to Greek daily Kathimerini, in a recent letter to the Labor Ministry, SETE provided data which showed that in 2014 the volume of paid employment provided by the tourism industry increased by 23 percent.

In particular, employment increased by 39 percent in the restaurant, bar and cafe sector, by 30 percent at campsites, by 15 percent at hotels and by 12 percent in travel agencies.

During July 2014, Greece’s tourism industry generated 137,139 jobs, compared to the same month in 2013.

Overall, jobs in the tourism industry in July last year reached 516,655, a figure which was equal to one third of the paid employment of private sector workers for that month.

Also, during 2014, total salaries in the tourism industry reached 3.8 billion euros, showing an increase of some 500 million euros compared to 2013, while the average monthly salary in the accommodation sector exceeded 1,000 euros.

From the total salaries in the industry, nearly 2 billion euros came from the accommodation sector alone and more than 1 billion euros came from the restaurant, bar and cafe sector.

Moreover, total contributions to the IKA social security fund rose last year by some 200 million euros, reaching 1.6 billion euros, which corresponds to 16 percent of the fund’s total revenue.

From the total social security contributions to IKA from the tourism industry, 877 million euros came from the hotel sector and 436 million euros came from the restaurant, bar and cafe sector.

The direct contribution of tourism to Greece’s GDP in 2014 was 17 billion euros, which represents 9.3 percent.