Annual travel and tourism revenues for Greece are reportedly headed for a new record, according to figures for the first half of the year, released this week by the Bank of Greece (BoG).
Revenues from travel services increased by 15.3 percent in the Jan-Jun 2019 period, compared to the same period in 2018, and despite the fact that arrivals of third country visitors dropped by 0.5 percent from the first half of 2018.
The press release by the BoG reads:
Balance of travel services
Based on provisional data, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €2,424 million in June 2019, compared with a surplus of €2,095 million in June 2018. More specifically, travel receipts in June 2019 rose by 16.4% to €2,620 million, from €2,252 million in June 2018, while travel payments also increased by 25.3% (June 2019: €197 million, June 2018: 157 million). The rise in travel receipts reflected a 16.4% increase in average expenditure per trip, as inbound traveller flows remained unchanged compared with June 2018. Net receipts from travel services accounted for 84.2% of total net receipts from services and more than offset (153.6%) the goods deficit.
In January-June 2019, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €4,150 million, up from a surplus of €3,693 million in the same period of 2018. This development is attributed to an increase, of 15.3% or €732 million, in travel receipts, which were only partly offset by travel payments, up by 25.4% or €276 million. The rise in travel receipts is attributed to a 15.9% increase in average expenditure per trip, as inbound traveller flows fell slightly, by 0.5%. Net receipts from travel services offset 35.8% of the goods deficit and accounted for 60.7% of total net receipts from services.
Travel receipts
In June 2019, as mentioned previously, travel receipts rose by 16.4% year-on-year. In more detail, receipts from residents of the EU28 increased by 14.3% to €1,824 million, whereas receipts from outside the EU28 rose by 21.9% (June 2019: €724 million, June 2018: €594 million). The rise in receipts from within the EU28 was due to increased receipts by 28.3% from euro area residents (June 2019: €1,159 million, June 2018: €904 million), as receipts from residents of non-euro area EU28 countries fell by 4.0% to €664 million. More specifically, among major countries of origin, receipts from Germany rose by 13.9% to €450 million and receipts from France also increased by 54.0% to €181 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom increased slightly by 0.4% to €390 million. Turning to non-EU28 countries, receipts from the United States declined by 6.8% to €133 million, while receipts from Russia fell by 7.8% to €59 million.
In January-June 2019, travel receipts increased by 15.3%, relative to the same period of 2018, to €5,509 million. This development was driven by a 9.7% increase in receipts from residents of the EU28, which came to €3,643 million, and by a 29.6% rise in receipts from residents outside the EU28 to €1,691 million. In particular, receipts from euro area residents increased by 15.7% to €2,389 million, while receipts from residents of non-euro area EU28 countries showed a small decline of 0.2% and stood at €1,254 million. Specifically, receipts from Germany dropped slightly by 0.2% to €944 million, while receipts from France rose by 32.2% to €359 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom rose by 7.3% to €752 million. Turning to non-EU28 countries, receipts from the United States increased by 24.4% to €389 million, while receipts from Russia fell by 7.2% to €96 million.
Inbound traveller flows(1)
The number of inbound visitors in June 2019 stood at 4,102 thousand, compared with 4,104 thousand in June 2018. Specifically, visitor flows through airports increased by 2.8%, whereas visitor flows through road border-crossing points declined by 10.2%. The relative stability in the number of inbound visitors is attributed to higher visitor flows from outside the EU28 (up by 6.0%), offset by a decline in flows from countries within the EU28 (down by 2.2%). In greater detail, the number of visitors from within the euro area increased by 9.0% to 1,554 thousand, while visitors from the non-euro area EU28 countries decreased by 12.3% (June 2019: 1,389 thousand, June 2018: 1,584 thousand). Specifically, the number of visitors from Germany increased by 4.1% to 591 thousand, while visitors from France increased by 29.5% to 240 thousand. The number of visitors from the United Kingdom fell by 5.5% to 546 thousand. Turning to non-EU28 countries, visitors from the United States decreased by 10.2% to 135 thousand and visitors from Russia also decreased by 14.1% to 85 thousand.
In January-June 2019, the number of inbound visitors declined by 0.5% to 9,407 thousand (January-June 2018: 9,456 thousand). Specifically, visitor flows through airports increased by 4.2%, whereas visitor flows through road border-crossing points declined by 12.7%. In the period under review, the number of visitors from within the EU28 decreased by 5.2% year-on-year to 6,376 thousand, while the number of visitors from outside the EU28 increased by 11.0% to 3,031 thousand. Visitors from within the euro area increased by 0.7%, while visitors from the non-euro area EU28 countries decreased by 11.7%. Specifically, the number of visitors from Germany decreased by 7.1% to 1,352 thousand, while visitors from France increased by 15.2% to 528 thousand. Visitors from the United Kingdom also rose, by 4.0% to 1,101 thousand. Finally, turning to non-EU28 countries, the number of visitors from the United States increased by 21.4% to 422 thousand, while visitors from Russia rose by 0.5% to 153 thousand."
