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This year, the tourism indicators of Greece promise to be impressive, both in terms of the number of foreign tourists and revenue.

According to the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises, the average spend per person in the country will exceed 700 euro compared to 660 euro last year (the figure does not include tourists on board cruise ships). In addition, it is expected that the number of foreign tourists will reach 19 million and 21.2 million including the tourists on board cruise ships.

Regarding the revenue from tourism, the Association believes that, based on the latest data, it will amount to 13.5 billion euro compared to 12.2 billion euro in 2013.

In the period from January to April, the number of foreign tourists increased by 21.1% compared to the same period last year, exceeding 1.9 million people, according to the figures published yesterday by the Bank of Greece. This was also due to the increased number of tourists in Athens, which retained the dynamics of a tourist destination it had obtained during the second half of 2013.

Regarding the main markets for Greece, the same quarter recorded the highest increase in the percentage of tourists from Russia, namely 54.2%, followed by tourists from the UK 44.2%, the US 24% and Germany with a 14.8% increase. At the opposite end was the decline in tourist arrivals from France, namely 9%. The total increase in the tourist arrivals in April was 30.6%, the number of tourists being 728,000.

The increase in revenues from tourism recorded an even higher rate than the increase in the number of tourists, which indicates a trend towards improving tourism indicators. Thus, in January-April 2014, revenues increased by 27.8% compared to the same period of 2013, amounting to 900.2 million euro. According to the Bank of Greece, the increase in revenue was due to the increase in both the number of tourists and in the average spending per tourist by 26 euro or 6.2%.

It should be noted that while tourism revenue reported a historical record last year, it decreased by 8.7% from January to April. The greatest increase, namely 50.5%, was recorded in revenue from British tourists, followed by Russian tourists 37.2%, German tourists 17.9% and American tourists 2.1%. At the opposite pole was the 6% decline in revenue from French tourists. The total tourism revenue in April amounted to 411.1 million euro, registering an impressive increase of about 35.8% compared with the same month of 2013.

The improved performance of the tourism industry went along with the strong interest reported in the implementation of large-scale tourism investments by Greek and foreign groups, the budgets of which exceed 5 billion euro.

Meanwhile, one of the most important events to attract German tourists, which is organized annually by the prestigious professional magazine FVW, each time in different places, will end today on Rhodes. The event involved 50 representatives of tour operators from Germany, which is a major market for the Greek tourist destinations.

Russians - a key factor

The development of the tourist inflow from Russia throughout the year will be a key factor in the level of records expected in Greece in terms of the number of tourist arrivals and revenues.

A possible decline in the number of Russian tourists should still be considered a success, since the decline in the rouble-euro exchange rate on the one hand and the crisis in Ukraine on the other have turned upside down the upward trend in the number of bookings that was reported at the beginning of the year.

Last year for the first time, 1.3 million Russian tourists visited Greece and spent over 1.3 billion euro, thus ranking Russia third among the most important markets for Greece. Taking into account the very good recent development in terms of the other major markets, as the growth rate of the reported bookings made by them is a double digit, the tourists and revenues from Russia will determine the amount of tourist records in Greece this year. A 50% decline is expected in the number of tourists from Ukraine, which however holds a very small share in the Greek tourism market.

Growth in domestic tourism

The Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises notes that, for the first time in five years, it appears that domestic tourism is recovering, as shown by the data on domestic flights and the demand for tourist sites in the country.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, in the first quarter of the year, a 9.7% increase was reported in tourists who travelled by domestic flights operated by airports throughout the country, their number reaching 1.4 million compared to 1.3 million for the same period in 2013. At the same time, in an analysis of this year’s tourism trends, based on a survey conducted by Εuromonitor, MasterCard notes that over 70% of Greeks would choose home destinations for their holiday.