Rise in tourism arrivals dwarfs gains of regional rivals

By Stathis Kousounis

The growth in the number of tourism arrivals in Greece in the year to July was almost three times that of rival Mediterranean destinations such as Turkey and Spain.

Bank of Greece data showed on Tuesday that the number of visitors to this country increased by 20.8 percent to 10.49 million in the first seven months of 2014.

At the same time Turkey posted a 6.8 percent rise and Spain a 7 percent increase.

Visitors from the US to Greece rose a remarkable 28.5 percent in the same period.

Travel receipts grew 13.8 percent to 6.68 billion euros.