Nat’l Bank report: Tourism in Greece posting rapid recovery

A National Bank (NBG) report, released on Wednesday, called the current tourism season in Greece as particularly satisfying, with travel revenues coming close to 2019, the record-breaking year before the Covid-19 pandemic.

A report by the Athens-based systemic bank pointed to increased spending per arrival, estimated at 11 percent higher than in 2019, albeit two-thirds of the increase is attributed to inflation.

Conversely, arrival of foreign holiday makers is slighter lower than in 2019, reaching 88 percent of the figure in the latter year. Additionally, the report cites a robust recovery of air travel to the country, but “anemic” road arrivals.

Bookings for Greek hotels were also up by 17 percent, compared to 2019, attributed to better quality of provided services and higher occupancy for four- and five-star units.

While still not reaching 2019’s record levels, the National Bank report cited a quicker recovery by Greece’s tourism sector compared to other rivals, especially ones in the Mediterranean.

The 88-percent figure for the Jan-July period in Greece, in comparison to 2019, was nearly matched by the Mediterranean, as a whole, at 85 percent, and substantially higher than the 57 percent on a global basis.

The figure means that Greece held a 19-percent stake of the overall Med tourism sector in the first seven months of 2022, compared to 17 in 2019 and 13 percent in 2013. Among others, Greece was the only country in Europe to record more flights over the summer of 2022 in comparison to 2019.