Greek travel receipts plunged 71 pct in March

Travel receipts plunged 71 pct to 92 million euros in March, from 318 million in the same month last year, while travel payments also decreased by 75.7 pct to 61 million euros from 250 million last year, the Bank of Greece said in a report on Friday.

According to the report, which is based on provisional data, the balance of travel services in March 2020 showed an estimated surplus of 32 million euros, compared with a surplus of 68 million in March 2019.

The fall in travel receipts resulted from a 46.8 pct decline in inbound traveller flows and a 45.7 pct decrease in average expenditure per trip. Net receipts from travel services offset 1.8 pct of the goods deficit and accounted for 8.9 pct of total net receipts from services.

In the January-March period, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of 185 million euros, up from a surplus of 165 million in the same period of 2019. Travel receipts fell by 127 million or 17.1 pct to 619 million euros, while travel payments also decreased, by 148 million or 25.5 pct to 434 million.

The drop in travel receipts stemmed from an 11.4 pct fall in average expenditure per trip and a 5.6 pct decrease in inbound traveller flows. Net receipts from travel services offset 3.3 pct of the goods deficit and accounted for 16.4 pct of total net receipts from services.

In March 2020, receipts from residents of EU27 countries fell by 67.2 pct to 43 million euros, while receipts from outside the EU27 decreased by 74.0 pct. Among major countries of origin, receipts from Germany fell by 82.0 pct to 6 million and receipts from France decreased by 51.1 pct to 5 million.

Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom fell by 82.5 pct to 5 million, while receipts from the United States decreased by 79.3 pct to 9 million. Receipts from Russia also decreased, by 62.4 pct to 2 million.

In January-March 2020, travel receipts totalled 619 million, down by 17.1 pct relative to the same period of 2019. This development was driven by a 26.9 pct decline in receipts from residents of EU27 countries, which came to 241 million, and by a 7.8 pct drop in receipts from residents of non-EU27 countries to 373 million.

Source: ekathimerini.com