A vivious campaign of negative publicity in both international and national media, capital controls, the July 5th referendum, the refugee crisis and the seven months of negotiations with the lenders did not deter foreign tourists coming to Greece, breaking another record of arrivals.
Last year visitors to Greece reached a record 24 million. This year’s projected figures indicate that visitor numbers may exceed 25 million as figures suggest so far.
In the first half of 2015, there was a 21 percent increase in tourist arrivals and revenues rose by 8 percent compared to last year. Revenues from tourism will reach 17 percent of the Greek economy this year, one percentage point higher than the previous year.
In 2015, the number of tourists coming from Germany, China, Great Britain, France and Italy increased, while there was a dramatic drop in the number of visitors from Russia. Overall arrivals at the Athens International Airport increased by 27 percent the first half of the year.
According to the ministry of tourism the reason for the increase are the safe environment of Greece and the very good value for money most tour operators offered this year. War and fear of terrorism attacks in North Africa and Turkey, re-directed many tourists to Greece.
edited yxamonakis
