The Bank of Greece on Monday announced increased travel-related revenues in December 2015, as compared to the corresponding month in 2014, even in the face of an overall decrease in tourist arrivals during the same month, down 9.3 percent.
The BoG’s press release reads:
“Based on provisional data, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €41 million in December 2015, compared with a deficit of €18 million in December 2014. More specifically, travel receipts rose by 12.2% to €205 million in December 2015, up from €183 million in the same month of 2014. Travel payments dropped by 18.1% (December 2015: €164 million, December 2014: €200 million). Higher travel receipts resulted mainly from an increase of €24.1% in average expenditure per trip, as arrivals decreased by 9.3%. Net receipts from travel services accounted for 11.8% of total net receipts from services and offset 2.7% of the goods deficit.
In 2015, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €12,169 million, up 7.5% from a surplus of €11,317 million in 2014. This development is attributed primarily to an increase of €801 million or 6.0% in travel receipts and, to a lesser extent, a decrease of €51 million or 2.5% in travel payments. Higher travel receipts were mainly due to increased arrivals by 7.1%, as the average expenditure per trip dropped by 1.2%. Net receipts from travel services offset 70.6% of the goods deficit and accounted for 71.5% of total net receipts from services.
Travel receipts
In December 2015, as mentioned previously, travel receipts rose by 12.2% year-on-year. Looking at the breakdown by visitor’s country of origin, receipts from residents of the EU28 decreased by 14.5% (December 2015: €84 million, December 2014: €98 million), while receipts from residents outside the EU28 rose by 44.9% (December 2015: €119 million, December 2014: €82 million). Lower receipts from within the EU28 resulted from a fall of €6 million or 9.4% in receipts from euro area residents, and a decrease of 23.1% in receipts from residents of non-euro area EU28 countries (December 2015: €28 million, December 2014: €36 million). Among major countries of origin, receipts from Germany fell by 13.5% to €19 million, while those from France stood relatively unchanged at €7 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom also decreased, by 17.8% to €12 million (December 2014: €15 million). Turning to non-EU28 countries, receipts from Russia rose by 133.1% to €7 million and those from the United States increased by 1.0% to €11 million.
In 2015, travel receipts increased by 6.0% year-on-year to €14,195 million. This development is attributed to higher receipts from within the EU28 (up 14.7% to €9,455 million), as receipts from outside the EU28 dropped by 9.7% to €4,301 million. In particular, receipts from euro area residents increased by 10.8% to €6,042 million, and receipts from residents of non-euro area EU28 countries rose by 22.3% to €3,414 million. Specifically, receipts from Germany rose by 13.6% to €2,266 million and those from France by 6.6% to €1,204 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom also increased, by 30.5% to €2,027 million. Turning to non-EU28 countries, receipts from Russia fell by 63.2% to €426 million, while receipts from the United States increased by 44.4% to €946 million.
Inbound traveller flows (1)
The number of inbound visitors in December 2015 fell by 9.3% year-on-year to 488 thousand. This development reflected a 36.9% drop in arrivals from within the EU28, as arrivals from outside the EU28 rose by 31.5%. In greater detail, arrivals from the euro area decreased by 1.0% to 105 thousand, and those from the non-euro area EU28 countries dropped by 54.8% (December 2015: 97 thousand, December 2014: 214 thousand). Specifically, arrivals from Germany rose by 20.0% to 30 thousand and those from France by 24.2% to 13 thousand. Arrivals from the United Kingdom also rose, by 24.7% to 27 thousand. Turning to non-EU28 countries, arrivals from Russia increased by 47.1% to 9 thousand, and those from the United States rose by 48.5% to 19 thousand.
The number of inbound visitors in 2015 increased by 7.1% to 23,600 thousand (from 22,034 thousand in 2014). In 2015, arrivals from within the EU28 stood at 14,974 thousand (up 13.0% compared with 2014), whereas arrivals from outside the EU28 dropped by 1.8% to 8,625 thousand. Arrivals from the euro area rose by 9.8% and those from the non-euro area EU28 countries by 17.1%. More specifically, arrivals from Germany and France increased by 14.3% and 4.0% to 2,810 thousand and 1,522 thousand respectively, while arrivals from the United Kingdom also rose by 14.7% to 2,397 thousand. Finally, turning to non-EU28 countries, arrivals from Russia fell by 59.0% to 513 thousand, while those from the United States increased by 26.8% to 750 thousand.”
