Tourism receipts in Greece “reached record levels” in 2022 compared to 2019, the benchmark year before the Covid-19 pandemic exploded, Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on Tuesday.
“Despite the difficulties of 2022, as a result of the war in Ukraine, Greece managed to reach record levels, compared to the figures for 2019,” the minister stressed, quoted by the Greek press agency, Ana.
According to figures available from the Greek Statistical Authority (Elstat), “there was an increase of 23.4% and 13.6% in August in income from accommodation and catering respectively compared to 2019”, the minister specified during a conference of the Union of tourist companies. (Sete) in Athens.
25% of GDP
“This shows that our strategy has been effective despite the negative economic situation” (war in Ukraine, inflation, etc.), he noted.
For his part, the president of Sete, Yannis Retsos, estimated during this session that this year “tourist income would reach and probably exceed that of 2019,” according to Ana.
Greece has worked hard this year to compensate for the reduction in its tourism income suffered during the first two years of the pandemic.
The year 2019 is a reference year for Greek tourism with a record number of 33 million tourists, which strongly contributed to the recovery of the economy after a decade of debt crisis (2009-2018).
Engine of the country’s economy, tourism represents almost a quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Battered by high inflation like many European countries, Greece is forecast to grow 5.3% this year before slowing to 2.1% in 2023, according to the state budget bill released last week.
Source: BFM TV
