Leap in tourism spending

Foreign visitors to Greece spend significantly more than what the Bank of Greece has found, per data by Visa.

According to an analysis by the multinational travel transaction company, tourism spending in Greece has increased by 14% year-on-year, with Athens attracting the most visitors of all cities. The largest share of these transactions concerns spending on dining and nightlife, and secondarily on retail purchases.

The analysis covers transactions in physical stores in Greece with Visa cards issued abroad, in the period from October 2023 to September 2024 compared to the same period the previous 12 months. This is more than double what the Bank of Greece data show for the first nine months of this year, according to which receipts amounted to 18.76 billion euros and are up just 4.1% compared to the same period last year.

Visa data are of additional interest...