While 2012 was a disappointing year for tourism with people staying away in the face of protests, strikes and riots against austerity, the year 2013 – which could set a record of 17 million arrivals – began with a bang in the first quarter with some one million visitors.
The news came in a survey carried out by the Bank of Greece and published by the Greek Statistical Authority (ELSTAT which showed that from January-March 2013, tourist arrivals increased by 4.6% compared to those of the first quarter of 2012 and amounted to 1,023,354 people in comparison to 978,559 people last year.
Arrivals from Europe, that represent the largest share of arrivals (78.9%), decreased by 2.6%, at the same time that a 3.3% drop was recorded from the European Union’s member states.
A significant increase was as well recorded from Bulgaria, Spain, Russia and Germany. In contrast, a significant decrease of arrivals was recorded from the United Kingdom, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Of the other continents, there was an increase of arrivals, with the largest recorded from Asia and a big jump in Turkish tourists, who especially like the Greek islands off the coast.
Regarding the means of transport and station entry it is shown that most arrivals were realized by road and air. The main station entry with the largest traffic proportion, by road, is Promahonas (8%) and Evzonoi (7.3%). As for flight arrivals, Athens airport had the largest traffic proportion (33.1%), followed by Thessaloniki airport (8.3%).
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