Greek consumer spending on vacations is decreasing every year

The majority of Greeks choose their holiday homes – if they have one -, being hosted by friends or relatives – if they have a property in… privileged locations – or rooms for rent in order to be able to go on vacation this year. Few and in a single digit percentage are those who stay in hotels, most of which do not include meals in the accommodation package. In fact, almost half will cook many of the holiday meals, because eating out every day… doesn’t work out.

The above figures, which clearly reflect the general tendency to search for more economical solutions in order for employees to manage to save money in order to be able to take holidays or extend them by a few days, result from the nationwide survey of the Association of Retail Businesses of Greece in the period 3-5 June 2022 in relation to public purchasing habits for the 2023 holiday market.

More specifically, 26% of respondents will be accommodated in a friend’s or relative’s holiday home, 22% will stay in a holiday home, 20% choose accommodation in rooms for rent and only 9% accommodation in hotels (7% without board and 2% with full nutrition).

Finally, 6% choose camping and 6% choose a trip abroad.

Home meals

It is typical that 45% of the respondents answered that during the holidays they often cook, which means that they try to reduce the cost of catering. At the same time, 66% state that they often visit food stores such as supermarkets, which again shows a tendency to save money, while 53% buy local products. 16% buy other types of products on vacation, either souvenirs or other products such as clothes, shoes, jewelry, toys, etc.

Half the budget for food, but not at restaurants

The average expenditure for product purchases during the holidays is estimated at 230 euros. Of these, 118 euros (ie 51%) concern food purchases outside restaurants, such as e.g. purchases from supermarkets, for cooking at the accommodation or for direct consumption e.g. at the beach.

The 52 euros are for purchases of tourist items, such as souvenirs, and the 59 euros are for purchases of other products, such as clothes, shoes, toys, jewelry, as consumers include the shopping experience in their daily vacation routine. Based on these figures, tourism expenditure from domestic tourism is estimated at 380 million euros.

However, according to the respondents, their spending for this year’s holidays is estimated to be reduced by 15%. The reasons for this decrease and a comparison with 2022 reveal that the most negative factor is the reduced income due to product revaluations with an increase from 63% to 69%, followed by transportation costs with a decrease from 52% to 43%, the increased accommodation costs with an increase from 23% to 38% and reduced income due to energy costs with a decrease from 50% to 37%.

Nevertheless, according to the research conclusions, the data show that despite the problems due to inflationary pressures, a significant part of the population will go on holidays and undertake major purchases during this period, but with reduced spending, which is a result of the wider trend to save money.