According to the Bank of Greece, travel receipts rose by 235.6% in July 2021 and by 139.7% in January-July 2021 and inbound traveler flows increased by 240.2% in July 2021 and by 51.4% in January-July 2021.
Based on provisional data, the balance of travel services in July 2021 showed a surplus of €2,138 million, up from a surplus of €610 million in July 2020. More specifically, travel receipts rose by 235.6% to €2,275 million in July 2021, from €678 million in July 2020, while travel payments also increased by 103.4%.
The rise in travel receipts was due to a 240.2% increase in inbound traveller flows, as average expenditure per trip declined by 1.9%. Net receipts from travel services offset 95.7% of the goods deficit and contributed 86.8% to total net receipts from services.
In January-July 2021, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €2,964 million, up from a surplus of €867million in the same period of 2020. Travel receipts rose by €1,972 million or 139.7% to €3,384 million, whereas travel payments decreased by €126 million or 23.0% to €420 million.
The rise in travel receipts is attributed to a 51.4% increase in inbound traveler flows, as well as to a rise of 57.3% in average expenditure per trip. Net receipts from travel services offset 22.6% of the goods deficit and contributed 63.7% to total net receipts from services.
In January-July 2021, travel receipts increased by €139.7% year-on-year to €3,384 million. This development was driven by a 176.9% increase in receipts from residents of the EU27, which rose to €2,318 million, and by an 81.3% rise in receipts from residents outside the EU27 to €1,037 million.
In greater detail, receipts from euro area residents rose by 170.1% to €1,770 million, while receipts from residents of non-euro area EU27 countries increased by 201.4% to €548 million. In particular, receipts from Germany increased by 157.7% year-on-year to €671 million and receipts from France increased by 348.0% to €345 million.
Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom rose by 143.3% to €303 million, while receipts from the United States increased by 200.6% to €194 million. Receipts from Russia also increased, by 205.4% to €34 million.
