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NBG: 2023 May be a Record-breaking Year for Greek Tourism
Posted On 10 Aug 2023
Tag: 2023 tourism estimates, 2023 tourist receipts, Covid-19 impact Greece, economy, Greece economy, Greece tourism economy, Greece tourism ministry, Greece tourism policy, Greece tourism strategy, l10856l, l8132l, National Bank of Greece (NBG) data, NBG tourism Trends, tourism and travel, tourism and travel Greece, tourism data Greece, tourism trends Greece
A strong reputation and even stronger international arrival figures could boost Greek tourism figures over pre-Covid 2019 levels, hitting a new record this year, reveals the latest report released by the National Bank of Greece (NBG).
According to NBG, Greek tourism revenues this year have a strong chance of reaching 21 billion euros, an amount that exceeds pre-Covid 2019 levels (18.17 billion euros) by 20 percent as well as last year’s performance (17.63 billion euros).
In its third-quarter bulletin for tourism, NBG is also expecting arrivals to exceed pre-Covid 2019 levels this year attributing the forecast to Greece’s robust competitiveness compared to rival markets and a dynamic tourism season start.
Indicatively, international arrivals in the March-May period surpassed 2019 levels by 10 percent and relevant tourist receipts by 19 percent (or 2.8 billion euros), the bank said.
Key tourism revenue drivers this year have been traditional source markets which boosted their share by 42 percent compared to 39 percent in pre-pandemic 2019, and the US, which has nearly doubled its arrivals over 2022 and spending.
The sturdy demand boosted hotel sales by 14 percent in the three months under review and over 2019, with city breaks gaining ground. And all this, say bank analysts, despite the slow recovery of road arrivals, which in the January-May period reached 2.3 million compared to 1.5 million in 2022, up by 52.9 percent.
“Taking into account inflationary pressures, 2023 tourism receipts could approach 21 billion euros,” the bank said.
Source: NBG.
“The momentum of spring, the first positive signs from summer bookings and the improvement in consumer confidence in our main markets have set the stage for new record arrivals in 2023,” said the report’s analysts, adding however that extreme heat conditions and widespread fires are creating conditions of uncertainty.
The average person on the street doesn’t believe these figures Crete has suffered low figures this year I’m here and witnessed it Agios Nicolas last week the restaurants were dead only locals sitting in them and not many people walking around either. So unless people are all inclusive these figures seem very hard to believe.
We have been going to Crete for 23 years but it’s gotten so expensive now we are going to have to look elsewhere, we are very sad about it, but three weeks costs us over £4600 in total. Accommodation is self catering and we spend nearly £2000. We can get many all inclusive holidays in other countries for a lot less than that. You should do something about the Taxi drivers locals told us they paid 7€ minimum we were charged 10€.