(Athens) Foreign tourist arrivals to Greece have risen sharply this year, following the 2020 pandemic-related collapse, but they still remain well below their pre-COVID-19 level, according to figures from the Central Bank released Friday.
Arrivals jumped nearly 80% in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period in 2020.
Over the period, 8.6 million foreign tourists visited the country, including 4 million in August alone, where the rebound reached 125.5%.
The Germans represent the largest contingent (1.5 million visitors, + 111.1% over eight months), followed by the French (775,000, + 184.8%) and the British (723,000, + 37%) .
This increase resulted in a 135% increase in tourism receipts over the first eight months of the year, to nearly 6.6 billion euros.
But these figures are still far from the level of 2019, before the pandemic, when some 21.8 million tourists spent 13.2 billion euros.
Engine of the Greek economy, the tourism industry, which represents more than 20% of the country’s GDP, was hit hard in 2020 by containments and border closures, as in Spain or Italy.
This year, the official opening of the tourist season in the country in mid-May, one month ahead of 2020, has given the sector a boost.
Before the summer, Greece also carried out a major vaccination campaign, especially in the islands, its most popular destinations, in order to avoid any further confinement.
“Society and the economy will not close again,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis insisted on Friday.
The government expects the economy to rebound strongly this year thanks to the good performance of the tourism sector, after GDP collapsed by 9% last year.
The 2022 draft budget forecasts growth of 6.1% in 2021 and 4.5% next year.