After tourism recovered in 2022 and 2023, international travel began to decline starting this year.
Greeks took more trips abroad in 2023 but have not yet reached pre-pandemic levels, recording a total of 6.2 million departures, 34.9 million overnight stays and €2.4 billion in spending.
In addition, there is a shift from Balkan destinations to “traditional” European destinations such as the UK, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands. This is highlighted in a related study by the Institute of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (INSETE) entitled: “Outbound tourist traffic from Greece, 2019-2023”.
The study highlights that After low levels in 2020 and 2021, outbound tourism showed a recovery for the second year in a row, 2022-2023due to the improving economic climate in the country combined with the complete lifting of travel restrictions.
However, this year, and especially after the Easter period, Greek travel abroad has recorded a decrease of 25% compared to 2023, says Lysandros Tsilidis, president of the Federation of Greek Tourist Offices. This, he claims, is the result poor economic situation of households. As for the destinations chosen by the Greeks, these are the countries of Central Europe, the southern Mediterranean, in particular Spain, Portugal, as well as France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and the Emirates.
Mr Tsilidis points out that high-priced (due to distance) destinations such as Southeast Asia, India, Cuba and Canada have their own audiences. Greeks are facing an economic crisis and the increased cost of living is affecting their travel both within and outside the borders, Mr Tsilidis points out.
Regarding the overnight stays of Greeks abroad, according to INSETE data, it is highlighted that last year Greeks recorded an average of 5.6 overnight stays abroad, a slight decrease compared to 5.7 nights in 2019, however the average capital expenditure (MCP) increased by 12%, from €350 in 2019 to €393 in 2023, after average spend per night (ASP) showed a proportionally higher increase of 14%, from €61 in 2019 to €70 in 2023. This increase undoubtedly contributed to the growth of tourist traffic to eurozone countries (+4%, from 2.2 million in 2019 to 2.3 million in 2023), which traditionally have higher spending.
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