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Meropi Kyriacou Honored as TNH Educator of the Year
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
ATHENS – So many tourists are pouring into Greece again in 2024, likely bringing another record, that even a drop in how much they spend hasn’t slowed a massive growth in revenues for the sector that’s ongoing.
The Bank of Greece, which tracks the trends, said the number of visitors jumped 120 percent from 2019 to 2023, despite the COVID-19 pandemic holding down the arrivals dramatically in 2020 and 2021 before health restrictions were lifted.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1939693/greece-spending-drop-mass-tourism
But despite another jump of 15.5 percent so far in 2024 compared to the record busting year of 2031 when more than 30 million people came, average spending dropped 3.1 percent but so many people had their wallets open it mattered little.
In May, total tourism revenue increased by 6.8 percent, while arrivals rose by 21.3 percent although average spending per trip plunged by 12.2 percent, but there are so many luxury resorts taking over beaches that the big spenders are ruling.
The bank said that in the first half of 2024 tourism revenues hit 6.921 billion euros ($7.73 billion,) impressive because it included the slowest period of winter although travelers are now coming year round.
It was driven by a big jump in inbound tourist arrivals, which saw a 15.5 percent increase, bringing the total number of visitors to 11.625 million during the first six months of the year, said Travel and Tour world.
Germans were the biggest market, followed by the United Kingdom and the surging United States market which overtook the French, led by the Diaspora that’s essential and expected in Greece which counts on it.
Americans spent 540 million euros ($602.94 million) in the first six months, an increase of 1 percent over 2023 when they began returning in earnest with international air traffic opening more as COVID declined.
Italians also played a big part in the revenue increase, their spending soaring 48.8 percent to hit 329 million euros ($367.35 million) and Greece an easy hop from them by air or ferries connecting the countries.
There was a huge drop in Russians, down 70.1 percent, as European Union sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine barring Russian airlines and making it difficult for them to get to Greece through other countries and stopovers.
June – the real start of the high summer tourism season – saw travel receipts grow 7.7 percent to 3.1 billion euros ($3.46 billion) but at the same time saw a 1.4 percent drop in spending per trip, offset by the number of trips and tourists.
British tourists spent the most that month, some 608.9 million euros ($679.88 million) that was a huge jump of 42.5 percent over the same month in 2023, United Kingdom visitors looking for sunny weather, beaches and culture.
Despite Americans arriving in droves and being among high spenders, revenues from them dropped 32.8 percent to 143.1 million euros ($159.78 million) in June, although it wasn’t said whether an increase was expected through summer.
