Visitors from Germany bolster tourism receipts

Tourism has seen its revenues soar this year, driven mainly by spending by German visitors, the latest Bank of Greece figures reveal.

Travel receipts grew 17 percent in the first seven months of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017, reaching 8.23 billion euros. This rise was the result of incoming tourism traffic rising by 14.6 percent year-on-year and, to a lesser extent, average spending per trip increasing by 14 euros or 2.7 percent. Visitor numbers amounted to 14.995 million against 13.082 million in January-July 2017.

This July incoming traffic amounted to 5.54 million travelers, up 7.7 percent on a yearly basis, while receipts rose 14.4 percent to 3.3 billion euros, of which 495 million came from Germany. The German market contributed 1.467 billion euros in the first seven months of the year, or 17.8 percent of the total.

These significantly improved...