Germans, British and American tourists were the pillars of Greek tourism this year by contributing decisively to the increase of arrivals and travel revenues, according to developments in the balance of travel services for the January-September 2015 period that the Bank of Greece publicized today.
Balance of travel services
Based on Bank of Greece provisional data, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €1,975 million in September 2015, down 4.8% from a surplus of €2,075 million in September 2014. More specifically, travel receipts fell by 5.4% to €2,131 million in September 2015, from €2,252 million in the same month of 2014.
Travel payments also decreased by 12.0% (September 2015: €156 million, September 2014: €177 million). Lower travel receipts resulted mainly from a decrease of 5.8% in average expenditure per trip, as arrivals remained broadly unchanged from September 2014. Net receipts from travel services accounted for 87.1% of total net receipts from services and more than offset (136.3%) the goods deficit.
€11,074 million surplus
In January-September 2015, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €11,074 million, up 5.8% from a surplus of €10,464 million in the same period of 2014. This development is attributed primarily to an increase of €568 million or 4.7% in travel receipts, and, to a lesser extent, to a decrease of €41 million or 2.7% in travel payments.
Higher travel receipts were mainly due to increased arrivals (by 8.6%), as the average expenditure per trip decreased by 3.4%. Net receipts from travel services offset 86.2% of the goods deficit and accounted for 74.2% of total net receipts from services.
Travel receipts
In September 2015, as mentioned previously, travel receipts fell by 5.4% year-on-year. Looking at the breakdown by visitor’s country of origin, receipts from residents of the EU28 increased by 4.1% (September 2015: €1,507 million, September 2014: €1,448 million), while receipts from outside the EU28 dropped by 24.3% (September 2015: €569 million, September 2014: €752 million).
Higher receipts from within the EU28 were mainly due to a rise of €66 million or 7.0% in receipts from euro area residents, as receipts from residents of non-euro area EU28 countries fell by 1.3% (September 2015: €502 million, September 2014: €509 million).
Countries of origin
Among major countries of origin, receipts from Germany dropped by 1.1% to €423 million and those from France by 1.8% to €171 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom also dropped, by 6.9% to €266 million (September 2014: €286 million). Turning to non-EU28 countries, receipts from Russia fell by 73.1% to €60 million, while receipts from the United States increased by 57.8% to €185 million.
In January-September 2015, travel receipts increased by 4.7% year-on-year to €12,570 million. This development is attributed to higher receipts from within the EU28 (up 10.5% to €8,174 million), as receipts from outside the EU28 dropped by 4.8% to €4,084 million.
Receipts by area
In particular, receipts from euro area residents increased by 6.7% to €5,208 million, while receipts from residents of non-euro area EU28 countries rose by 18.0% to €2,966 million. Specifically, receipts from Germany rose by 7.4% to €1,859 million and those from France by 3.1% to €1,069 million.
Receipts from the United Kingdom also increased, by 25.2% to €1,749 million. Turning to non-EU28 countries, receipts from Russia fell by 69.0% to €342 million, while receipts from the United States increased by 38.4% to €804 million.
Inbound traveller flows
The number of inbound visitors in September 2015 rose by 0.2% year-on-year to 3,650 thousand. This development mainly reflected a 4.4% increase in arrivals from within the EU28, as arrivals from outside the EU28 dropped by 7.6%.
In greater detail, arrivals from the euro area increased by 8.5% to 1,433 thousand, whereas arrivals from the non-euro area EU28 countries fell by 0.9% (September 2015: 1,032 thousand, September 2014: 1,041 thousand). Specifically, arrivals from Germany rose by 4.8%, while arrivals from France dropped by 7.4%. Arrivals from the United Kingdom fell by 10.8% to 333 thousand. Turning to non-EU28 countries, arrivals from Russia fell by 61.7% to 90 thousand, while arrivals from the United States rose by 33.9% to 135 thousand.
Visitors increase
The number of inbound visitors in January-September 2015 increased by 8.6% to 20,617 thousand (January-September 2014: 18,987 thousand). In the period under review, arrivals from within the EU28 rose by 17.1% year-on-year to 13,121 thousand, while arrivals from outside the EU28 dropped by 3.7% to 7,497 thousand. Arrivals from the euro area rose by 11.7% and those from the non-euro area EU28 countries by 24.3%.
More specifically, arrivals from Germany and France increased by 17.8% and 2.0%, respectively, while arrivals from the United Kingdom rose by 17.5%. Finally, turning to non-EU28 countries, arrivals from Russia fell by 62.1% to 441 thousand, while those from the United States increased by 35.3% to 659 thousand.
