A contraction in the average number of overnight stays—down to 6.1 nights from 7.4 in 2019—continues to constrain revenue growth, preventing it from keeping pace with arrivals.
At the same time, widening disparities between well-developed tourism regions and the rest of the country, along with signs of fatigue in certain source markets, are among the key challenges identified for Greece’s tourism sector in a new INSETE study.
The analysis presented in the report “Inbound Tourism in Greece 2025 | Developments and Trends compared to 2024 and 2019” highlights a complex landscape. Alongside positive trends—such as higher daily spending, reduced seasonality, Athens’ consolidation as a city-break destination, market diversification, growth in the U.S. market, and the strengthening of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) and cruise segments—these structural challenges are becoming increasingly evident.
Shorter stay a key constraint
The tourism sector recorded strong performance over the 2019–2025 period, reaching 38.0 million arrivals in 2025 (excluding cruises), up 5.6% year-on-year and 21.2% compared to 2019. Tourism receipts amounted to 22.6 billion euros (+9.8% year-on-year, +27.9% vs. 2019), or 23.6 billion euros including cruises (+9.4% and +30.0%, respectively). However, overnight stays have remained broadly stable at around 230 million since 2019, excluding the pandemic years (2020–2022).
The decline in the average stay is acting as a structural drag on revenue growth and is identified as a top-priority issue. Addressing the issue will require upgrading the tourism product across both mature and less-developed regions, as well as attracting long-haul markets, which typically stay longer.
On the positive side, average expenditure per overnight stay—a key indicator of the daily “value” of the tourism product—rose further to 97 euros, now standing 27.5% above 2019 levels, compared with cumulative inflation of 20%.
Reasons behind shorter stays
The reduction in the average number of days can be attributed to three interrelated trends:
-A global shift toward shorter trips
-Shortened holidays due to rising daily costs, particularly amid financial pressures in key European source markets
-An increased share of same-day visitors—over 90% of whom originate from neighboring countries (Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Turkey)—rising from 7.5% to 9.3% of total visitors
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