Kikilias: The dynamic course of the Greek economy this year has the stamp of tourism

“The impressive rate of 7.7% with which the Greek economy “ran” in the second quarter of 2022 and the revision of the first quarter to 8% confirm, in practice, the commitment of the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis in order to make the lives of Greeks better. These excellent performances – almost double the 4.1% of the Eurozone average – reflect the decisive effect and the added value of Greek tourism to the country’s GDP, and in fact at a particularly critical time in the midst of multiple crises and inflationary pressures internationally “, said the Minister of Tourism, Vassilis Kikilias.

As yesterday’s announcements from ELSTAT show, exports of services – which includes our tourism product – in the second quarter of the year increased by 7.2%. These performances are added to the Bank of Greece’s recent data on the enhanced tourist flows – at record levels – to our country, which in turn are reflected in the travel receipts which in June alone recorded an increase of 2.3% in relation to June 2019, as well as in the average expenditure per trip, which moves to 15.9% compared to June 2019.

These figures did not appear by chance, the minister added and continued: They are the result of collective effort, hard and methodical work. Since the beginning of last autumn, we have formulated the appropriate strategies, we have extended the tourist season, which this year started earlier than ever – as early as March – and is expected to end at the end of the year, we “lighted up” new – more and more – destinations in every corner of our homeland and we shaped the institutional environment that made our country a pole of attraction for the largest investment funds, with the tourism industry at the forefront. Our visitors now spend and stay longer in our country, which translates into tax revenues for the Greek economy, but also multiple revenues for the commercial world and our local communities. And all this, having succeeded in compensating this year’s losses from the Russian and Ukrainian markets due to the war, but also with the closed – due to the pandemic – the large market of China, which in all previous years significantly strengthened our tourism.

Already, the first data for the third quarter of the year – which includes the traditionally high tourist season for our country – are particularly encouraging. And on this basis we continue. Because tourism is a national affair. It means new jobs, support for the turnover of businesses operating around the sector, support for the primary sector and agricultural production, new investments, support for the income of the average Greek family. And it is a consistent commitment of our Government that every euro that is added to the budget, will return to the wallet of every Greek woman and every Greek”.

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