The Greek tourism industry enjoyed a boom during the first four months of 2026, showing significant growth in both revenues and visitor numbers, compared to January to April 2025, even though 2025 was also a record year.
During the first third of 2026, travel receipts rose €752.9 million, or 36.9%, to hit €2.79 billion, and travel payments increased by 14% to €1.13 billion. Overall, the country’s revenue from inbound international tourists (travel exports) exceeded its own residents’ travel spend abroad (travel imports) by €1.66 billion, an increase of 58% from €1.05 billion in the same period of 2025.
Inbound arrivals shot up 27.1% from 4.12 million in the same period of 2025, reaching 5.24 million visitors between January and April 2026. Notably, the number of people arriving via overland transport went up by a whopping 67.8%, while air traffic also grew, but by a more modest 12.8%.
With overtourism a concern in some parts of Europe, many destinations are focusing on boosting visitor spending rather than (or, as well as) visitor numbers. Greece succeeded on this front, too, over those first four months. As well as visitor numbers increasing, the average spend per trip rose by 8.6 per cent year-on-year.
In terms of where that money is coming from, receipts from European Union nations increased by 38.7% to €1.37 billion, marginally more than those from non-EU countries, which were up 37.5%, reaching €1.34 billion. The difference in arrivals was more marked, with arrivals from EU countries up 36.1%, while arrivals from the rest of the world increased by around half that: 18.3%.
Important source markets included Italy, which sent 21.6% more visitors over the period than the year before. Italians also spent 57.5% more than they did in January to April 2025. For French visitors, the arrivals and revenue figures are more aligned: arrivals saw a 14.1% increase, and arrivals were up 14.1%.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, traditionally a major source market for Greece, managed to send 51% more visitors. Receipts from UK visitors rocketed 106.9% in the early part of the year compared to early 2025, helping to explain why Greek authorities declared they would suspend the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES) rules. No EES checks taking place makes Greece an attractive choice for British holidaymakers who, since Brexit, are considered third-country nationals and therefore risk being caught up in EES delays and disruption.
Greek authorities are likely to be looking carefully at more mitigated figures from Germany and the United States, however. German arrivals rose by 12.4%, hitting 534,500 visitors, but they spent less than the same period the year before, with receipts dropping 10.5% to€263 million. This may reflect low consumer confidence in Germany, affected by geopolitical concerns related to the Middle East conflict, as well as the squeeze on household budgets and a chill on purchasing power. Greece will be watching the figures for the next part of the year with interest because May 2026 saw the lowest German consumer confidence since 2023, according to the NIM Consumer Climate indicator.
Fewer visitors went to Greece from the United States, too. US arrivals fell 3.4%, and their spending also fell slightly (0.8%).
