Citing data from the statistics agency Elstat, the minister said at the Sete Tourism Board meeting in Athens on Tuesday that the revenues of hotels increased by 23.4 percent in August compared to the same month of 2019, and the revenues of restaurants by 13.6 percent. This was reported by the Main news agency. “This shows that our strategy is working despite the bad economy,” Kızılias said, referring to high inflation and the Ukraine war.
According to Ana, Federation President Yannis Retsos said that tourism revenue this year is expected to match and possibly exceed 2019 total revenue.
With a record 33 million visitors, 2019 is a reference year for Greek tourism. This greatly contributed to the rise after the debt crisis from 2009 to 2018. Tourism accounts for almost a quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Like many other European countries, Greece is facing high inflation this year. The economy is expected to grow 5.3 percent this year and slow to 2.1 percent next year, according to the budget draft released last week.
(SDA)