20 million tourists boost tourism in Greece

Tourism in Greece continues to record strong performance in 2026, driven by a rise in visitor numbers and increased tourism spending, indicating the country’s sustained appeal as one of Europe’s leading destinations. During the first seven months of the year, Greece welcomed more than 20 million tourists, an 8.6% year-on-year increase, while tourism revenues surged 12% to approximately 13.5 billion euros, according to data from the Bank of Greece. The number of inbound tourists to the country during the period from January to July reached approximately 20.04 million visitors, compared with 18.45 million during the same period in 2025. The growth in tourist traffic, along with a 2.9% increase in average spending per trip, contributed to sector revenues rising to 13.518 billion euros, compared with approximately 12.071 billion euros in the first seven months of last year. Revenues from tourists arriving from European Union member states rose by 6.9% to 7.094 billion euros, while revenues from visitors from non-EU countries jumped 18.3% to 5.783 billion euros. At the level of major tourism markets, revenues from visitors from the United States increased by 7.9% to 1.063 billion euros, despite an 8.2% decline in the number of American tourists to approximately 829,900 visitors. The British market recorded strong growth, with the number of tourists from the United Kingdom rising by 12.3% to approximately 2.58 million visitors, while their revenues increased by 23.3% to 2.092 billion euros. The Italian market also achieved notable growth, with the number of Italian tourists increasing by 24.6% to 1.273 million visitors, and revenues from them rising by 31.6% to 828.1 million euros. In contrast, the number of German tourists rose by 7.7% to approximately 3.03 million visitors, but revenues from the German market declined by 0.7% to 1.981 billion euros.