Tourism arrivals soar 24.5% in Q1, but hotels report only moderate growth

Greek tourism enjoyed a huge leap in the first quarter of the year, compared to the first three months of record year 2023. It showed growth of almost 25% in foreign arrivals per the data published on Tuesday by the Bank of Greece, with the short-term rentals accounting for the lion’s share of that increase.

According to the central bank, non-resident traveler arrivals increased by 24.5% in January-March year-on-year, and travel receipts stood at 942 million euros in the first quarter of the year from €735 million in the same period in 2023, registering a jump of approximately 28.2%.

Guests arriving at tourism accommodation facilities across Greece reached 1,167,330 in March, while overnight stays amounted to 2,642,364, marking a comparatively increase compared to the corresponding month last year, by 3.5% in arrivals and 4.9% in overnight stays, according to figures the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) released on the same day.

A greater contribution to arrivals and overnight stays in total accommodation was observed from domestic tourism with 58.3% and 55.1%, respectively. The average total overnight stay for the same period amounted to 2.3 days. It appears then that the rest of tourists arriving from abroad chose short-term rental options.

Companies active in the sector of accommodation reported a 13.4% turnover increase compared to last year in the first quarter of the year, while those in food service had a 9.4% growth, according to ELSTAT.

Throughout the businesses in the accommodation sector, the turnover in the first quarter of 2024 amounted to €436,641,282 , while in the first quarter of 2023 it had come to €385,084,572.

In the entire food service sector, the turnover amounted to €1,799,689,378 , while in the first quarter of 2023 it had amounted to €1,645,284,897. The largest contribution to the total turnover in accommodation was collected on Kos, in the Dodecanese, and the lowest by the Regional Entity of Thessaloniki. For businesses in the food service sector, the largest increase was recorded by Messinia (16.1%) and the smallest by the island of Zakynthos.

Source: https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1239295/hotels-report-growth-in-guests-and-overnight-stays-in-march/