New record in tourist arrivals and revenue expected for 2016

A new record in tourist arrivals and revenue is expected to be set in 2016 and this year’s season will be a catalyst for the development of Greek tourism and its contribution to the Greek economy and employment, Andreas Andreadis, president of Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) said on Wednesday.

In a statement released at the inauguration of the ITB 2016 fair in Berlin, Mr. Andreadis said that both tourist arrivals and revenue will grow this year compared with 2015 “based on figures taken from the ITB, the programming of air seats in 2016 and figures from tour operators and online systems such as Amadeus”.

He said that “SETE expects that international arrivals this year could reach 25 million (27.5 million including sea cruise passengers), from 23.5 million in 2015″ while the total revenue is expected to reach 15 billion euros in 2016, from 14.2 billion in 2015″.

However, he warned that increase would not be horizontal throughout the country and that some destinations which currently hit by the refugee influx would record a significant decline in arrivals.