(Reuters) -The Greek travel services sector saw a surplus of 18.79 billion euros ($21.24 billion) in 2024, a 3.4% increase from the previous year, according to final data from the Bank of Greece released on Thursday.
In 2024, travel receipts rose by 4.8% on the year, to 21.59 billion euros, driven by a 12.8% increase in non-resident inbound travellers and a 2.9% rise in average expenditure per overnight stay.
Receipts from residents of the 27-country European Union, which made up 55.4% of total receipts, grew by 7.1% to 11.97 billion euros, with Germany and Italy being the leading contributors to the growth.
On the other hand, receipts from France and non-EU member Britain decreased by 11.6% and 4.1% respectively.
In 2024, the number of inbound travellers to Greece reached 40.7 million, a 12.8% surge from the previous year, with the influx coming mainly through airports and road border-crossing points, the Bank of Greece said.
The cruise tourism sector also performed strongly, it added, with total receipts from cruise passengers increasing by 22.4% year-on-year, to 1.11 billion euros.
Despite these positive trends, the data showed that in 2024 the average expenditure per trip fell by 7.0% compared with 2023, while the average length of stay declined by 9.6%.
($1 = 0.8846 euros)
(Reporting by Antonis Pothitos; Editing by Alex Richardson)
