Greeks cut spending to go on holiday

By Stathis Kousounis

Greeks are reining in their spending on entertainment and clothes in order to save money for vacations more than people in any other country, according to an international survey conducted by TripAdvisor to record trends at international, regional and local levels.

The global TripBarometer survey, which was carried out from February 14 to March 10 on a sample of 61,007 respondents, found that travelers are spending less on entertainment, restaurant meals and apparel so that they can go on more and better vacations. The Greeks top this list as they said that they cut their ordinary entertainment spending in favor of some quality time away more than anyone else.

The good news is that most travelers around the world stated that they intend to spend more on traveling. In contrast, the Greeks, French, Italians and Portuguese said that they will not do so. In fact, the average Greek is planning to reduce their average spending per trip by 3 percent this year, while South Africans will raise it by 30 percent. The survey made an interesting find in the fact that all respondents from Argentina said that their dream is to visit Greece. The question is whether they can afford it.