The traditional markets of Britain and Germany were the mainstay of Greek tourism in 2015, as, according to the Bank of Greece’s Travel Balance data, arrivals from Britain increased by 14.6% and receipts by 31% during the 11 month-period from January to November, while Germany arrivals increased by 14.2% and revenues by 13.9%.
Contribution of American tourists was also outstanding, as arrivals increased by 26.3% and revenues by 45.1% .
In total, about 5.2 million arrivals in 11 months came from Britain and Germany, while Americans travelers were more than 730,000.
In contrast, arrivals from Russia decreased by 59.5% and revenues by 63.7% .Travel receipts in 11 months increased by 779 mil. euros compared to the corresponding period of 2014.
The developments in the balance of travel services – November 2015 released by the Bank of Greece follow:
Balance of travel services
Based on provisional data, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €75 million in November 2015, up 84.3% from a surplus of €41 million in November 2014. More specifically, travel receipts rose by 16.0% to €241 million in November 2015, from €208 million in the same month of 2014. Travel payments dropped slightly by 0.7% (November 2015: €166 million, November 2014: €167 million). Higher travel receipts resulted mainly from an increase of 22.6% in average expenditure per trip, as arrivals decreased by 4.0%. Net receipts from travel services accounted for 20.1% of total net receipts from services and offset 4.7% of the goods deficit.
In January-November 2015, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €12,128 million, up 7.0% from a surplus of €11,334 million in the same period of 2014. This development is attributed primarily to an increase of €779 million or 5.9% in travel receipts, and, to a lesser extent, to a decrease of €15 million or 0.8% in travel payments. Higher travel receipts were mainly due to increased arrivals (by 7.5%), as the average expenditure per trip dropped by 1.7%. Net receipts from travel services offset 77.0% of the goods deficit and accounted for 72.8% of total net receipts from services.
Travel receipts
In November 2015, as mentioned previously, travel receipts rose by 16.0% year-on-year. Looking at the breakdown by visitor’s country of origin, receipts from residents of the EU28 increased by 15.5% (November 2015: €116 million, November 2014: €100 million) and receipts from outside the EU28 rose by 20.1% (November 2015: €112 million, November 2014: €93 million). Higher receipts from within the EU28 resulted from a rise of €10 million or 17.6% in receipts from euro area residents and an increase of 13.0% in receipts from residents of non-euro area EU28 countries (November 2015: €52 million, November 2014: €46 million). Among major countries of origin, receipts from Germany rose by 32.5% to €19 million and those from France by 70.9% to €10 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom also increased by 63.3% to €28 million (November 2014: €17 million). Turning to non-EU28 countries, receipts from Russia fell by 40.8% to €4 million, while receipts from the United States increased by 40.4% to €17 million.
In January-November 2015, travel receipts increased by 5.9% year-on-year to €13,990 million. This development is attributed to higher receipts from within the EU28 (up 15.1% to €9,371 million), as receipts from outside the EU28 dropped by 10.6% to €4,182 million. In particular, receipts from euro area residents increased by 11.1% to €5,986 million and receipts from residents of non-euro area EU28 countries rose by 22.9% to €3,386 million. Specifically, receipts from Germany rose by 13.9% to €2,247 million and those from France by 6.6% to €1,197 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom also increased by 31.0% to €2,015 million. Turning to non-EU28 countries, receipts from Russia fell by 63.7% to €418 million, while receipts from the United States increased by 45.1% to €935 million.
Inbound traveller flows
The number of inbound visitors in November 2015 fell by 4.0% year-on-year to 642 thousand. This development mainly reflected a 17.6% decrease in arrivals from within the EU28, as arrivals from outside the EU28 rose by 20.9%. In greater detail, arrivals from the euro area remained relatively unchanged at 147 thousand, whereas arrivals from the non-euro area EU28 countries dropped by 26.7% (November 2015: 209 thousand, November 2014: 286 thousand). Specifically, arrivals from Germany rose by 8.6% to 47 thousand and those from France by 53.8% to 18 thousand. Arrivals from the United Kingdom also rose, by 33.8% to 53 thousand. Turning to non-EU28 countries, arrivals from Russia fell by 10.3% to 9 thousand, while arrivals from the United States rose by 22.8% to 22 thousand.
The number of inbound visitors in January-November 2015 increased by 7.5% to 23,112 thousand (January-November 2014: 21,496 thousand). In the period under review, arrivals from within the EU28 rose by 14.3% year-on-year to 14,772 thousand, while arrivals from outside the EU28 dropped by 2.7% to 8,339 thousand. Arrivals from the euro area rose by 10.0% and those from the non-euro area EU28 countries by 19.9%. More specifically, arrivals from Germany and France increased by 14.2% and 3.9% to 2,780 thousand and 1,509 thousand, respectively, while arrivals from the United Kingdom rose by 14.6% to 2,370 thousand. Finally, turning to non-EU28 countries, arrivals from Russia fell by 59.5% to 504 thousand, while those from the United States increased by 26.3% to 731 thousand.
Inbound traveller flows exclude cruise passengers (other than those recorded in the Border Survey).
Related link: Developments in the balance of travel services – November 2015_Table
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