Travel balance records a surplus in Jan.-June

Greece’s travel balance of payments recorded a surplus of 1.413 million euros in June, 273 million euros more (or 23.9 percent) compared with the same month in 2012, reflecting a 20.6 pct rise in travel proceeds to 1.591 million euros euros and a 0.8 pct decline in travel payments to 178 million euros, the Bank of Greece said on Wednesday.

The central bank, in a report, said average spending per travel rose by 20.6 pct while tourist arrivals grew by 16.1 pct compared to the same month last year.

The report also said that the travel balance of payments in the January-June period recorded a surplus of 2.483 million euros, or an increase by 579 million euros (30.4 pct), from 1.904 million euros in the same period last year. In the six-month period, tourist arrivals were up 12.3 pct.

Travel proceeds in June increased by 20.6 pct, compared with the same month last year, reflecting a 10.6 pct rise in revenue from EU-27 and a 39 pct increase in revenue from other countries. 

In the January-June period, travel proceeds rose by 17.8 pct, reflecting a 36.3 pct increase in revenue non-EU countries; revenues from EU-27 countries showed an incresae of 7.7 pct. Travel proceeds from Germany rose 17.8 pct to 542 million euros, from France they rose 30.7 pct and from the UK they dropped 10.9 pct. Revenue from Russia rose by 42 pct to 341 million euros, while proceeds from the US rose 25.4 pct to 186 million euros.

Incoming tourism totalled 2,373,000 in June, up 16.1 pct from the same month last year. Arrivals from Germany dropped 5.6 pct, from France they rose 17.6 pct and from the UK they fell by 7.2 pct. Arrivals from Russia grew by 51.6 pct and from the US they doubled, by 11.27 pct. In the six-month period from January to June, incoming tourism grew 12.3 pct to a total of 5,421,000 travellers.