A third of tourists arrive by car

The number of people visiting Greece by land last year came to 8.3 million - i.e. more than 30 percent of all tourism arrivals in the country (excluding cruise ship passengers) - according to a study by the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE).

Given that travel receipts last year amounted to 14.63 billion euros, some 2 billion euros of that came to Greece by car. The advantage those tourists enjoy is that they can select or change their destination at the very last minute without having to pay a penalty as in the case of air tickets. Consequently, the economic climate in the countries of origin is the most important factor for their citizens when it comes to choosing where to go holidays.

The six biggest road tourism markets for Greece are those in the Balkans (Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia),...