ATHENS – Tourist arrivals in the islands of the South Aegean reached new historic levels in 2019, surpassing the record performance of 2018, the South Aegean Region said in an announcement.

The announcement, citing official figures released by the Bank of Greece on travel receipts in the January-September 2019 period, said that the South Aegean ranked top among the country’s 13 regions in arrivals, overnight stays and receipts. More specifically, travel receipts totalled 4.697 billion euros in the nine-month period, from 3.993 billion in the same period in 2018 and 3.287 billion in 2017. The nine-month receipts were higher than the receipts of 2018 (4.414 billion euros). The South Aegean was followed by Crete (3.195 billion), Central Macedonia (2.049 billion), Attica (2.04 billion) and the Ionian Islands (1.84 billion euros).

Tourist arrivals totalled 6.025 million in the South Aegean in the January-September period, up from 5.816 million in 2018 and 5.083 million in 2017. The South Aegean was followed by Central Macedonia (5.903 million), Attica (4.654 million), Crete (4.584 million), East Macedonia-Thrace (3.216 million and the Ionian Islands (2.853 million).

In overnight stays, the South Aegean ranked first with 47.990 million in the nine-month period, followed by 38.273 million on Crete, 37.289 million in Central Macedonia, 26.597 million in Attica and 22.568 million in the Ionian Islands.

Spending per visit was 779.6 euros in the South Aegean, up from 686.7 euros in 2018 and 646.6 euros in 2017. The South Aegean was followed by Crete (696.9 euros), the Ionian Islands (644.7), Peloponnese (483.7), North Aegean (459.5), Attica (438.2), Thessaly (484.2) and Central Macedonia (347.1 euros).