Study: Greeks Cut Domestic Holidays Short in 2019

Almost half of all Greek nationals were unable to go on holiday in 2019 for more than a week dropping to 2013 levels, according to a study released this week by SETE Intelligence (INSETE).

More specifically, according to the research department of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), 49.2 percent of Greeks vacationed for up to a week citing financial reasons as the cause.

The study found that in 2019, 4.9 million domestic trips were recorded down by 11 percent against 2018. Overnight stays were down by 10 percent to 53.6 million and spending fell by 6.8 percent to 1.6 billion euros.

Most Greeks preferred to travel in the country by land (3.6 million trips) in 2019, followed by sea (1 million trips), and 272,000 by air.

More than half – at 60 percent – of all domestic travelers in 2019 did not stay at rented accommodation against 39 percent that did.

Rented accommodation accounted for 21 percent of all overnight stays, 11 percent of which at hotels and 10 percent in rooms.

Majority of trips made in summer

In terms of season, the bulk of all trips was made in the summer with June, July and August accounting for 80 percent of all domestic trips in 2019, INSETE said. 

According to the same study, travelers aged 25-44 and 45-64 accounted for 70 percent of all tourism-related spending or 1.1 billion euros.

Of that spending, 35 percent went to 4-7-day trips, while 51.8 percent or 836 million euros was spent either on private villa accommodation (26.2 percent or 419 million euros) or at homes of friends/relatives (25.6 percent or 410 million euros).