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Tourism ministers have celebrated the last few years for the record of arrivals of foreign visitors, especially during the period from April to October, but under the euphoric rug there are several weaknesses.
Research by the Institute of the Association of Greek Tourist Companies for the period 2005-2017 shows the 30% reduction in the average per capita expenditure of foreign tourists arriving in Greece. From € 746 in 2005 it dropped to € 522 in 2017 and this is not the case in official speeches by government officials.
In a nutshell, our country is visited by more and more tourists who, however, spend much less money, which should be cause for concern.
It is worth noting that in addition to the revenues that tourism brings to the economy, there is a significant cost to support the millions of visitors in our country, which is nowhere reflected: the burden on infrastructure, waste management, security, .The
For tourists coming from the euro zone, the fall was lower, 19.1%, from 789 euros in 2005, the average expenditure per capita stood at 638 euros in 2017.
But again, we have to do with a 1/5 drawback compared to 2005 spending, so again, there is not much room for complacency.
Bulkiness, that is, the increase in the number of tourists over this twelve year period can act as a balancing factor for the moment. The positive must be the fact that Greek tourism was not affected by the concerns and uncertainties of the first memos and of course the unforgettable summer of 2015. On the contrary, it has changed drastically, despite the degradation of quality elements, offering strong support in the economy of the country at a time when everything collapsed.
Decrease, but not as spectacular as average expenditure per capita, average spending per night decreased by 3.2% and from 70 euros fell to 68 euros. This is a small drop that can be accelerated in the coming years by companies that cause problems, that is, alternative hosting platforms.
Less days of stay
The course of on-call time was also decorative. On average, a tourist from a Eurozone country spent about 12 days in 2005 in Greece, while in 2017 reduced their stay to 9 days. Similarly, the image is also shrinking for visitors from the rest of the EU. and the rest of the world, a trend that may show that the economic difficulties are not just about the Greeks, but are reflected in customs – including travel – and other peoples in Europe.
Australian Champions
With regard to expenditure by origin, it is clear that the longer the journey takes to reach Greece, the higher the per capita income. Thus, Australians are the first to have a per capita expenditure of 1218 euros, followed by US tourists from Canada and the United States. From the fourth place we find only Europeans, with the first Swiss and followers, Russians, French, Germans and Britons.
On the other hand, that is, in the countries where low-budget tourists come from, we find practically all our … our neighbors. Less money is spent by Bulgarians, followed by FYROM, Albanian, Romanian and Turkish tourists, who together with the Czechs are below average.
Country Average per capita Expenditure in euros
Australia 1.218
USA 941
Canada 903
Switzerland 760
Russia 710
France 700
Germany 689
Great Britain 688
Holland 676
Austria 649
Belgium 648
Sweden 551
Spain 535
Cyprus 528
Denmark 525
Italy 523
Average 522
Czech Republic 390
Turkey 330
Romania 319
Albania 229
FYROM 114
Bulgaria 111
Possibly, therefore, the Greek tourist industry has a serious problem. The record of arrivals seems to be an oasis in a desert where tourists spend less and less, reducing the time they spend in Greece. Perhaps the prolongation of the tourist season has already begun a few years ago some destinations and support measures announced by operators such as airport management companies to operate in a positive way. However, adherence only to the number of foreigners choosing Greece for their holidays does not accurately describe the general state of tourism in our country and ultimately creates a distorted image.
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