Arrivals in 2024 are likely to exceed those of 2019, a record year, estimates Deputy Minister of Tourism, Kostas Koumis, who addressed the Parliamentary Finance Committee on Friday, during the examination of the Deputy Ministry's budget.

Specifically, he noted that arrivals for the period January-October are up 4.6% compared to the same period of 2023, while they are also up 0.8% compared to the same period of 2019. Arrivals during this period reached 3.7 million compared to 3.56 million in 2023. He noted that the performance for the ten-month period was the best ever. He added that an annual increase of 4.6% was also recorded in tourism revenue for the January-August period.

Over a two-year period, the rise is remarkable, he added, as compared to 2022, arrivals increased by 26.7% and revenues by 31.2%.

He added that tourism's contribution to GDP in 2023 was 10.9%, while for 2024 it is estimated at 13.5%.

Referring to travellers' expenditure, he said that per capita expenditure for 2024 was €769 euros, similar to 2023 levels. The average daily expenditure is also similar, at €90 for 2024, up from €89 in 2023. The average length of stay in 2024 and 2023 decreased to 8.56 days, down from 9.59 days in 2022. In addition, Koumis said there was a notable increase in a number of markets, mainly European, citing the UK, Germany, France, Finland, Finland, Poland, Switzerland and Eastern European countries.

"The Deputy Ministry's budget for 2025 reflects the Government's commitment to further upgrade the country's tourism and our commitment to transition to a model that promotes the principles of sustainability", Koumis told the Committee, noting that the Government's decision to increase the budget shows the importance attached to it.