Greece Sees 86% Drop in Tourism Revenue in Jan-July Period

Greece saw revenues from inbound tourism nosedive during the first seven months of the year, according to provisional data released by the Bank of Greece on Monday.

Greek tourism’s poor performance during the January-July period can clearly be attributed to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and ongoing travel restrictions that were in place since March.

According to the data, travel receipts during the seven-month period from January to July dropped by 86.3 percent to 1.255 billion euros compared to 9.16 billion euros in the corresponding period of 2019. Arrivals of non-residents fell by 80.1 percent year-on-year, while transport (mainly sea transport) receipts decreased by 12.2 percent.

According to the Bank of Greece, the developments in tourism influenced the entire balance of payments for the first seven months of the year.

In the January-July 2020 period, the current account showed a deficit of 7.9 billion euros, up by 5.2 billion euros year-on-year.

BoG said the development is almost exclusively due to the decline in the services surplus, chiefly attributable to a deterioration in the travel services balance, as well as the other individual components.

July

In July, the current account showed a deficit of 875 million euros, against a surplus of 1.3 billion euros in July 2019, due to a significant deterioration in the services balance. The decrease in the services surplus is mainly accounted for by lower net travel receipts.

That month, travel receipts in Greece decreased by 84 percent to 577 million euros from 3.7 billion euros in July 2019 and arrivals of non-residents fell by 85.4 percent year-on-year. Transport (mainly sea transport) receipts decreased by 26.2 percent.