More traveling abroadwithout yet reaching pre-pandemic levels, carried out by the Greeks in 2023, recording a total of 6.2 million departures, 34.9 million overnight stays and 2.4 billion euros in spending.

In addition, there is a shift away from the Balkan destinations to the “traditional” destinations of Europe, such as the UK, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands. This is highlighted in a relevant study by the Institute of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (INSETE) entitled: “Outbound travel traffic from Greece, 2019-2023”.

In fact, the study highlights that after the low levels of 2020 and 2021, last year, outbound tourism from Greece showed for the second year in a row a recovery guided by the improvement of the economic climate in the country combined with the complete lifting of travel restrictions.

25% drop in trips by Greeks abroad this year

For this year, however, and especially after the Easter period, the trips of Greeks abroad register a 25% drop compared to 2023, as emphasized in APE-MPE by the president of the federation of tourist offices of Greece, Fedhatta, Lysandros Tsilidis, as a result of the poor economic situation of households, as he claims. Regarding the destinations chosen by the Greeks, they are the countries of central Europe, the southern Mediterranean, and specifically, Spain, Portugal, but also France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and the Emirates. In fact, Mr. Tsilidis emphasizes that the destinations that are expensive due to distance, such as those in Southeast Asia, India, Cuba and Canada, have their own audience. The Greek is experiencing the economic crisis and the cost of living has an impact on his travels within and outside the borders, underlines Mr. Tsilidis.

Nikos Chalkiadakis: The Cretan Phileas Fogg who has traveled to 128 countries

Nikos Chalkiadakis is the president of the Hoteliers’ Union of Heraklion. However, when obligations allow, he travels outside Greece. Speaking to APE-MPE, he emphasizes that to date he has visited 128 countries and of course he will not stop there. He declares his fascination with the destinations of South America, explaining that the rich nature and the authenticity of its inhabitants are something unique. At the same time, he notes that the Greek tourist offices are excellent, since they can satisfy any desire. The next stop for Nikos Chalkiadakis would have been North Korea, but at the last minute the trip was canceled by the agency.

Greeks spent an average of 5.6 nights abroad last year

With reference to the overnight stays of Greeks abroad, always according to INSETE, it is emphasized that Greeks recorded an average of 5.6 overnight stays abroad last year, marginally reduced compared to 5.7 nights in 2019, however the Average Per Capital Expenditure (MCP ), increased by 12%, from 350 euros in 2019 to 393 euros in 2023, after the Average Spending per Night (ASP) showed a proportionally higher increase of 14%, from 61 euros in 2019 to 70 euros in 2023. The increase undoubtedly contributed and the increase in travel traffic to Euro Zone countries (+4%, from 2.2 million in 2019 to 2.3 million in 2023) which traditionally have higher Spending.

Every now and then the Greeks travel

In particular, in terms of when Greeks travel, the seasonality of outbound tourism is not as focused as inbound tourism in the second and third quarters of each year, but is distributed almost equally across the four quarters of the year. Nevertheless, in 2023 there was a notable increase in overnight stays and payments in the third quarter, a fact which is probably due to the increase in the share of trips for holidays abroad, favored by the improvement of the economic climate in Greece, but also to the inflationary pressures that led the domestic tourism package to higher levels compared to pre-pandemic.

Also noteworthy is the reversal of the trend recorded until 2019, with an increase in the shares of the traditional destinations for Greeks in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, from 21% in 2019 to 27% in 2023 in terms of departures and from 34% in 2019 to 38% in 2023 in terms of payments and a parallel reduction in the borders of our lower tourist spending destinations such as Bulgaria and Turkey. In these lower tourist spending markets, departures fell from a 36% share in 2019 to 26% in 2023 and payments from 11% in 2019 to 8% in 2023.