Greece tourism numbers have risen, but they're spending less

Tourism to Greece maintained strong momentum in the first half of 2026, recording a significant increase in both arrivals and travel revenues, according to the latest figures from the Bank of Greece.

Between January and June, travel receipts increased by 14.8%, reaching €8.80 billion, while inbound travel traffic rose by 15.4% to 13.49 million travellers.

As a result, the travel balance posted a surplus of €6.93 billion, compared with €6.01 billion in the same period of 2025.

The picture in June

In June 2026, travel receipts came to €3.48 billion, marking a relatively modest year-on-year increase of 1.2%. At the same time, arrivals grew much more strongly, by 6.9%, reaching 4.92 million travellers.

This divergence is mainly explained by a 6.2% drop in average spending per trip, indicating that the rise in visitor numbers did not translate into a similar increase in revenues.

Inbound travel traffic recorded robust growth in the first half, with arrivals from EU-27 countries up by 19.3%. Particularly striking was the increase in traffic through road border crossings, up by 49.3%, while arrivals via airports rose by 7.3%.

Among the key markets, arrivals from Germany increased by 10.4%, from Italy by 17.9% and from the United Kingdom by 10.4%.

Travel receipts by country of origin

At the level of individual markets, the picture for travel receipts in the first half of 2026 shows marked differences.

Overall, receipts from residents of the EU-27 increased by 10.7%, reaching €4.53 billion, while the rise in receipts from other countries was even stronger, at 19.7%, to €3.86 billion.

Within the EU, euro area countries generated €3.78 billion, up 13.3%, while receipts from non-euro area EU countries fell by 1.1%.

Germany

Germany remained one of the most important markets for Greek tourism, with receipts of €1.276 billion in the first half. However, this amount was 6.3% lower than in the same period of 2025.

It is noteworthy that arrivals from Germany increased by 10.4%, to 2.04 million travellers. In other words, more Germans visited Greece, without this being reflected in higher overall revenues.

The trend became particularly evident in June, when receipts from Germany fell by 14.5%, to €515.1 million, even though arrivals rose by 6.0%.

France

The French market also moved in a negative direction. Receipts from France in the first half fell by 7.4%, to €414.3 million, while arrivals remained virtually unchanged, edging down by 0.4%.

The decline was much sharper in June: receipts dropped by 33.9%, to €129.8 million, while arrivals of French travellers were down by 18.5%. France is therefore one of the key markets that weighed on revenues in that particular month.

Italy

At the other end of the spectrum, Italy posted a particularly strong performance. Receipts in the first half increased by 31.1%, reaching €470.0 million, while arrivals were up by 17.9%.

The positive trend strengthened in June, when receipts from Italian travellers rose by 34.4%, to €248.3 million, with arrivals also recording a significant increase of 21.8%.

Italy is thus among the markets making the strongest positive contribution to the rise in tourism revenues.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom was also a key source of tourism revenues. In the first half, receipts reached €1.179 billion, an increase of 8.5%, while arrivals rose by 10.4% to 1.68 million travellers.

However, the picture in June was quite different: receipts fell by 26.1%, to €442.9 million, and arrivals declined by 12.0%. So, despite the positive overall performance in the half-year, June saw a marked slowdown in the British market.

United States

The overall contribution of the United States was also positive. Receipts from American travellers increased by 10.8% in the first half, reaching €796.9 million.

This development is particularly noteworthy because arrivals from the US decreased by 5.4%, to 656.7 thousand travellers.

This suggests that, unlike other markets, total revenues from the US rose despite the drop in visitor numbers.

In June, however, receipts decreased by 3.7%, to €257.8 million, while arrivals fell by 12.1%.

Note from the Bank of Greece: Inbound travel traffic does not include data from cruises, other than those recorded by the Border Survey.

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