German, UK and US Tourists Top Spenders in Greece Before Covid-19

Travelers from Germany, the UK and the US were the top spenders in pre-pandemic 2019, according to a SETE Intelligence (INSETE) report released this week which found that recovering economies in source markets are expected to boost incoming tourism to Greece in the 2022-2023 period.

More specifically, according to the research department of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), German tourists generated nearly 3 billion euros in revenues in 2019 accounting for 16.7 percent of total tourism revenues.

The Brits followed spending approximately 2.6 billion euros on their holidays to Greece or 14.5 percent of the total.

And in third spot American vacationers who generated almost 1.2 billion euros in 2019 or 6.7 percent of all tourism-related revenues.

The INSETE study goes on to present revenues for the first nine months of 2021 for the same three source markets. Revenues from Germany came to 73 percent of those registered in the same period in 2019; UK tourism revenues came to 51 percent of those in 2019; and US tourists generated 47 percent of the 2019 figures.

Completing Greece’s top five source markets in 2019 is France generating almost 1.1 billion euros or 6.2 percent of the total. In the first nine months of 2021, revenue generated by French travelers came to 90 percent of the 2019 level for the same period. And in fifth place, the Italians, who generated roughly 1 billion euros in pre-pandemic 2019 or 5.7 percent of total revenues.

In the first nine months of 2021, revenues by the Italians reached 51 percent of 2019 levels.

In 2019, the Russian market generated approximately 433 million euros or 2.5 percent of total tourism revenues but in the first nine months of 2021, takings nosedived to 19 percent of 2019 levels for the same period.

Overall, incoming tourism from the eurozone area came to 7.7 billion euros in 2019, accounting for 44 percent of the total, said INSETE. In the first nine months of 2021, revenue from the same markets came to 68 percent of those registered in the same period in 2019.

INSETE analysts said news of an expected rise of the US dollar over the euro will make holidays to Europe an attractive option potentially boosting traveler flows to Greece as well.