Greece sees strong start to tourism pointing to further growth in 2025

Greece’s tourism industry is expected to see further growth in 2025, perhaps even surpassing last year’s record arrivals and receipts, according to industry sources.

Recent data show that arrivals by air rose by 4.8% in the first quarter and amid strong pre-bookings for the season ahead. This year, air carriers servicing Greece have scheduled 28.2 million airline seats – a 4.6% increase over 2024. This year, Athens will also be serviced with a direct connection from the U.S. West Coast, a major long-haul market, for the first time, and the total number of direct connections from the U.S. has increased by a fifth to more than 100 per week.

Greece has also shown remarkable resilience in the cruise tourism sector despite political instability in nearby regions of the Eastern Mediterranean. Data from the Hellenic Ports’ Association shows that Greece received 5,490 cruise ship calls in 2024, which corresponds to 7,927,709 passenger visits. This marks an increase of 260 calls and 924,559 passenger movements compared to the previous year. While cruise tourism revenues, according to the Bank of Greece, rose 22.4% to €1.1 billion.

The data show that Greece welcomed 40.7 million tourists overall in 2024 and collected €21.6 billion in tourism revenue. That represents a 12.8% increase in the number of arrivals from a year earlier, and a 4.8% increase in revenue.

Greece’s natural beauty, its Mediterranean climate and rich cultural heritage have positioned it as one of the world’s Top 10 tourism destinations. Tourism constitutes more than a quarter of Greece’s economy and accounts for roughly a similar ratio of jobs.

In the most recent annual report by the Greek Tourism Confederation’s think-tank, INSETE, the sector contributed €30.2 billion directly to Greek GDP last year, and between €66.5 billion and €80.1 billion, taking into account the indirect impact of the sector.