Leading international travel markets in Greece 2019-2022, by arrivals

In 2022, the United Kingdom was the leading inbound tourist market in Greece based on the number of arrivals. That year, the number of arrivals by British travelers reached nearly 4.5 million, surpassing the figure reported in 2019, prior to the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Germany ranked second on the list in 2022, with around 4.4 million tourist arrivals.

Has inbound tourism in Greece recovered from the impact of COVID-19?

With the significant increase in inbound tourist arrivals, the value of international travel receipts in Greece also bounced back in 2022, amounting to nearly 17.7 billion euros. Despite the sharp annual increase, however, this figure remained below the peak in travel receipts from 2019. Similarly, the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Greece rebounded in 2022 but was still around seven percent lower than in 2019.

The importance of travel and tourism for the Greek's economy

In 2022, travel and tourism represented more than 18 percent of Greece's gross domestic product (GDP). That was the second-highest share of travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP among EU countries. When considering the total contribution of travel and tourism to employment in Greece, those markets supported, directly and indirectly, around 800 thousand jobs that year.