The Greek cruise boom: $908.4 million travel windfall

On By Vaseline

According to data published this week by the Bank of Greece (BoG), cruise passengers visiting Greece in 2018 generated a remarkable €908.4 million in travel revenue. This represents an impressive growth of 84.1% compared to the corresponding period in 2022.

In particular, the final data for 2023 collected by the central bank from 16 major Greek ports, representing 83.7% of all cruise ship arrivals, indicated that additional revenues of €847.4 million were generated by the last port travelers (those who left the country), while €61.0 million was generated. million came from those arriving at the port.

Piraeus dominated port activity in 2023, accounting for 47.8% of total cruise-related revenues. Corfu and Santorini followed with 13.3% and 8.5% respectively. Ninety-two percent of total cruise revenues and eighty-two percent of total cruise passenger visits occurred at seven major cruise ship destinations in Greece.

A total of 5,152 cruise ships visited Greece in 2023, an increase from the 4,598 that visited in 2022. Annually, the number of overnight stays ashore increased by 121.5% to 9,421.9 thousand, contributing to an increase in cruise revenues. Estimates put the total number of cruise passengers at 3,484.1 thousand, an increase of 61.1% year-on-year.

The locations that received the most cruise ships were Mykonos (14.5 percent), Santorini (15.5 percent share) and Piraeus (14.8 percent).

In 2023, the total number of cruise passengers increased by 55.0%, from 4,493.6 thousand in 2022 to 6,964.2 thousand. 83.6% of the total were transit passengers making an average of 2.0 stops at Greek ports of call.

Based on preliminary data released in March by the Hellenic Ports Association (ELIME), Greece surpassed all cruise records in 2023 as 49 ports received 5,230 cruise ship arrivals and 7,003,150 passengers, representing an increase of 9.41 respectively % and 51.26% compared to 2022. .

According to ELIME data, the port of Piraeus handled 1,500,000 passengers, Santorini 1,298,968, Mykonos 1,192,822, Corfu, Rhodes, Katakolo and Heraklion.