A 20.6% increase was recorded by the incoming travel traffic in the first quarter of the year, as a result, travel receipts increased by 531.2 million euros (16.2%) and reached 3.81 billion euros.

According to the data of the Bank of Greece, an increase of 212.6 million euros (23.6%) was also observed in travel payments, which amounted to 1.15 billion euros, while the average expenditure per trip decreased by 3, 6%. Net receipts from the provision of travel services offset the goods balance deficit by 18.0% and contributed 66.6% to total net receipts from services.

The travel balance in the same period showed a surplus of 2.69 billion euros, compared to a surplus of 2.37 billion euros in the corresponding period of 2023.

The data for May

According to the provisional data, the travel balance in May 2024 showed a surplus of 1,649.0 million euros, against a surplus of 1,605.0 million euros in the corresponding month of 2023. In particular, an increase of 6.8% was recorded in May 2024 by travel receipts, which amounted to 1,934.8 million euros, compared to 1,811.3 million euros in the corresponding month of 2023, while a 38.5% increase was also observed in travel payments (May 2024: 285.8 million euros, May 2023: €206.3 million).

The increase in travel receipts was driven by a 21.3% rise in inbound travel traffic as average spend per trip fell 12.2%. Net receipts from the provision of travel services offset by 47.8% the deficit in the goods balance and contributed 87.3% to total net receipts from services.