Greece’s Travel Receipts Stronger in May by 34.7%

Greece’s travel receipts increased by 34.7 percent for the month of May and by 21.7 percent in the first five months of the year, according to provisional data released by the Bank of Greece (BoG) on Tuesday.

The positive performance was driven, according to the same data, by the growing number of inbound visitors in May, up by 23.6 percent year-on-year to 2,450,000 and a 10.7 percent rise in average spending per trip.

More specifically, May travel receipts reached 1.47 million euros from 1.09 million in the same month last year, with the increase partly offset by a 16.0 percent rise in travel payments which came to 202 million euros against 174 million euros in May 2017.

Additionally, the 34.7 percent year-on-year rise is attributed to stronger travel receipts from EU residents which grew by 53.8 percent to 1.11 million euros. Travel receipts from non-EU travelers dropped by 2.0 percent to 312 million euros in May compared to 318 million euros in 2017.

German travelers increased spending by 87.6 percent to 411 million euros, French by 27.0 percent to 95 million euros and UK travelers by 8.2 percent to 205 million euros. Meanwhile, receipts from Russia dwindled by 43.1 percent to 19 million euros but was up by 8.8 percent to 83 million euros for US residents.

For the first five months of the year, travel receipts increased by 21.7 percent, according to the central bank, compared to the same period in 2017, to 2.5 million euros, attributed to stronger spending by EU visitors.

More specifically, travel receipts for EU nationals grew by 35.0 percent to 1.73 million euros and by 1.2 percent to 704 million euros for non-EU visitors.

The balance of travel services in May recorded a surplus of 1.27 million euros against a surplus of 921 million euros in May 2017.

In the January-May period, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of 1.59 million euros, up from 1.27 million euros in the same period in 2017.