Risk of losing tourists to Greece
The issue of road tourism from abroad to our country is evolving into a difficult equation, after the “sinking” observed in 2021.
Road tourism is estimated at about 1/3 of the total that our country receives, with the data of 2019 to record almost 10 million tourist arrivals that came mainly from the Balkan countries. It seems that the invasion of Ukraine and the prolonged duration of the war have affected and continue to affect all the Balkan countries, resulting in serious fears about whether there will be the usual flow of tourists from them. Refugees are an issue they face strongly, while the rising energy costs they have brought are affecting their sensitive economies.
The president of SETE Mr. Giannis Retsos has stated that road tourism for this season is a big question mark and although it is early for estimates, since it starts late, around mid-June, the messages are not encouraging. “It is a fact that the war has affected the peoples of the Balkans and possibly Poland,” Retsos said.
What will the loss of road tourism mean for our country
The main countries from which the citizens of road tourism come are Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Turkey and Northern Macedonia, who in the last year before the pandemic spent in Greece over 38 million overnight stays, spending 1.8 million euros and contributing approximately 10% of the total revenue of our country. The difference in arrivals and revenues clearly shows the low average per capita expenditure of these tourists, but thousands of businesses, mainly in northern Greece, are probably supported exclusively by these markets.
In 2021, there was a large drop of 67.5% in international road arrivals and 62.9% in travel receipts. Bulgaria alone, which recorded the largest decrease, was 2.8 million tourists last year compared to 2019.
According to INSETE data, in the period January-August 2021, 2.8 million international road arrivals were recorded, compared to 8.6 million in the period January-August 2019. Throughout 2021, international road tourism recorded a dramatic time, in August alone did not record for the first time more than 1 million road arrivals, although the recovery rate slowed by -57.7%. In the period January-August 2021, a decrease was recorded by all neighboring countries compared to the corresponding period of 2019. In particular, the largest decrease in absolute differences is recorded by Bulgaria by -2.8 million while the largest decrease in percentage differences is recorded from Turkey by 639,000 and a decrease of 83.7%. The decrease from Albania amounted to 952,000, while from the market of Northern Macedonia the arrivals decreased by 1.5 million.
How much do tourists who come by road from the Balkans spend and where do they go?
Road tourism is an important part of inbound tourism in Greece, especially for Northern Greece and the regions of Thrace, Macedonia and Epirus. According to the INSETE study, road tourism is characterized by a relatively low average per capita expenditure, with 185 euros against 731 euros for the rest of tourism and 564 euros for all incoming tourism, as a result of the low average length of stay (4.0 nights). against 8.9 and 7.4 respectively) but also the low Average Expenditure per Night (47 euros against 82 euros and 76 euros respectively).
There is also strong seasonality and high concentration in the third quarter of the year. In particular, 67% of the total road tourism inland enter the country in the third quarter, compared to 58% of the rest of tourism and 59% of the total.
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