Money Buzz! Europa

Tag: tourism

  • Greek accommodation and food, beverage services recorded big decrease in turnover

    Greek accommodation and food, beverage services recorded big decrease in turnover

    For accommodation activities in Greece, the turnover in 2020 amounted to 2,303,658,141 euro, recording a decrease of 67.0%.

    In 2019 the respective turnover was 6,991,184,282 euro.

    The largest decrease in turnover in 2020 compared with 2019 was recorded in Karpathos (83.5%) and the smallest decrease (14.3%) was recorded in Florina.

    For the enterprises in Food and Beverage Service Activities, the turnover in 2020 amounted to 3,773,850,833 euro.

    This is a 37.7% decrease in comparison with 2019, when the respective turnover was 6,059,184,851 euro.

    The largest decrease in turnover was recorded in Mykonos (73.3%) and and Santorini (71%), while the respective smallest decrease (17.3%) was recorded in Korinthia.

  • Braga (Portugal) is the European Best Destination in 2021

    Braga (Portugal) is the European Best Destination in 2021

    Braga collected 109,902 votes, 28,8% of votes from Portugal and 71,2% of votes from the rest of the world.

    Top 3 is completed by Rome and Cavtat, a Croatian Sustainable Destination awarded by the European Commission, for whom voted 1 traveler on 10.

    612,609 travelers from 192 countries around the world voted this year for the European Best Destinations competition. 61% of votes were from Europe, 39% from outside Europe.

    Interesting, Kefalonia is the Greek Island that collected the highest number of votes since the creation of the competition.

    The favorite destinations for American travelers are Rome, Braga, Cavtat, Paris, and Sibiu.

    Chinese travelers prefer Paris, Rome, Florence, Ghent, Kotor and UK travelers are enjoying Braga, Florence, Rome, Cavtat, Sibiu, and Ghent.

    Tourism growth in the promoted destinations is on average +15%

    European Best Destinations competition have an impact in ”real life” with significant growth of tourists for the top destinations.

    It was recorded a + 17% growth of tourism for Porto rewarded in 2017, + 13% for Bordeaux rewarded in 2015, + 25% for Zadar rewarded in 2016, +41% for Zagreb, European Best Christmas Market 2016-2017-2018, +18% for Budapest awarded the title of European Best Destination in 2019.

  • Spain welcomed only 19 million foreign tourists in 2020, lowest level in the past 51 years

    Spain welcomed only 19 million foreign tourists in 2020, lowest level in the past 51 years

    The number of international visitors to Spain has fallen by more than 80% in 2020, after authorities imposed travel restrictions in context of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

    Spain welcomed only 19 million foreign tourists last year, a level not recorded since 1969. Also, foreign tourists’ spending in 2020 fell by 78.5% to 19.74 billion euros.

    Most foreign tourists came last year from France (3.87 million, a decline of 65.2%), the United Kingdom (3.17 million, down 82.4%) and Germany (2.41 million, a decline of 78.4%).

    In 2019, the number of international visitors reached a record level of 83.5 million, the seventh consecutive year of increase in the number of tourists. They spent 91.91 billion euros.

    Spain is the second most visited country in the world, after France, and tourism counts to about 12% of the Gross Domestic Product.

  • Nights spent in Vienna registered a whopping 74% decrease in 2020

    Nights spent in Vienna registered a whopping 74% decrease in 2020

    In 2020, 97.91 million nights spent in Austria were registered, according to preliminary results from the Statistics Office.

    This corresponds to a 54.75 million or 35.9% decrease compared to the previous year.

    The number of arrivals fell by 45.8% to 25.04 million (non-resident guests: -52.7%; resident guests: -30.5%).

    The highest drop in nights spent in absolute figures was recorded among guests from Germany (-18.21 million), the most important market of origin for Austrian tourism, followed by the Netherlands (-2.94 million), Switzerland and Liechtenstein (-1.78 million), the Czech Republic (-1.18 million), Belgium (-1.16 million) and the United Kingdom (-2.20 million).

    Vienna toursim was hit hardest

    The decrease by federal states varied. With -74.0%, Vienna was hit hardest, while Carinthia (-17.1%), Burgenland (-27.2%) and Styria (-24.5%) closed the calendar year 2020 with significantly lower declines.

    While nights spent by non-resident guests decreased in all federal states, there was an increase in resident guests in Carinthia (+5.4%).

    By types of accommodation, in hotels and similar accommodations the decrease was over 40%. In commercial holiday dwellings and private holiday dwellings the decrease was 22.6% or 23.6%.

  • Sharp decline of bed occupancy in Austrian lodging establishments

    Sharp decline of bed occupancy in Austrian lodging establishments

    Bed occupancy in Austrian lodging establishments was 30.5% in the 2019/20 winter season (November 2019 to April 2020), down 7.2 percentage points from the previous season.

    In commercial accommodation establishments, with the exception of camping, occupancy was 33.3% (-8.4 percentage points), while in private establishments it was 22.5% (-3.8 percentage points), according to Statistics Austria.

    Commercial lodging establishments (excluding camping) were just as affected in Corona Summer 2020, with a drop of 15.8 percentage points and an occupancy rate of 26.3%, as private establishments, which had an occupancy rate of 18.0%, 3.3 percentage points lower than in the previous summer.

    More accommodation establishments and beds

    In the tourism year 2019/20 (November 2019 to October 2020), around 1.14 million beds were available in 68.402 accommodation establishments (not including camping).

    Thus, the number of beds rose by 0.9% and the number of establishments by 1.5% compared to the previous year. 50.6% of the available beds were registered in Tyrol (352,010; +0.4%) and Salzburg (226,675; +1.7%).

    73.5% of the total number of beds available in the 2019/20 tourism year were in commercial and 26.5% in private establishments; 81.5% of the nights spent were in commercial and 18.5% in private accommodation.

    However, there were significantly fewer commercial (32.5% of all accommodation establishments; including camping) than private establishments (share: 67.5%).

    Highest number of beds per 1.000 inhabitants in Obertauern and Ischgl

    The largest bed providers were Vienna (82.465 beds in winter 2019/20 and 81.377 in summer 2020), followed by Saalbach-Hinterglemm (winter: 17.696), and the city of Salzburg with 16.121 beds in summer.

    The highest number of beds per 1 000 inhabitants had Obertauern (12.791 in winter) and Ischgl (7.154 in summer).

    The highest share of private beds was recorded in Zell am See (winter: 34.8%, summer: 36.1%).

    The commercial bed share was highest in the city of Salzburg (winter 97.7% and summer 97.6%).

    The average size of accommodation establishments in Salzburg was 84 beds per accommodation establishment in winter and 81 beds in summer, the lowest was in winter in Schladming, Zell am See and St. Anton am Arlberg with 17 beds per accommodation establishment.

  • The Covid-19 vaccination certificate is not mandatory for travel to Greece

    The Covid-19 vaccination certificate is not mandatory for travel to Greece

    The vaccination certificate will not be a precondition for someone who wants to travel to Greece, said Greek Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis, cited by Novinite.

    Theoharis explained that coronavirus tests will be performed by those who are not vaccinated, but it remains to be seen what will happen, depending on the decisions of the health authorities, who will determine whether the tests will be requested for all visitors.

    He added that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ proposal to the president of the European Commission was meant to shake the waters so that the EU could coordinate the vaccination issue.

    On Tuesday, Mitsotakis called for the creation of an EU-wide COVID-19 vaccination certificate to help relaunch pandemic-ravaged cross-border travel.

    Greek government announced that it will provide 25 million euros in funding for a tourism promotion campaign, in an attempt to attract more visitors this year.

    Greece’s tourism revenues last year reached 4 billion euros, compared to 18 billion euros in 2019, due to global travel restrictions.

  • Only 2.7 million people visited Louvre Museum in Paris last year

    Only 2.7 million people visited Louvre Museum in Paris last year

    Louvre Museum in Paris was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and the number of visitors in 2020 being 72% lower than in 2019, and revenues decreased by over 90 million euros, AFP reports.

    The most visited museum in the world was closed last year for six months, receiving only 2.7 million visitors in 2020, compared to 9.6 million visitors in 2019.

    The absolute record was set in 2018, when 10.2 million visitors were registered.

    In addition, if in a normal year foreign tourists represent 75% of the people who enter the Louvre museum, in 2020 the French accounted for 84% of visitors.

    Lost revenues in 2020 are estimated at over 90 million euros, while aid from the French state amounts to 46 million euros.

  • 69% less foreign tourists arrived in Italy in the first nine months of this year

    69% less foreign tourists arrived in Italy in the first nine months of this year

    In the first nine months of this year, the number of foreign tourists fell by 69%, sending the Italian tourism sector in a ”deep shock”, Reuters reports.

    The number of domestic tourists also fell over the summer, according to Istat.

    Most foreign tourists came to Italy from Germany (47%), while from the US there were almost no visitors.

    The hardest hit regions were the cities and towns on the Mediterranean coast, which saw a 96% decline in foreign tourists in April compared to a similar period in 2019.

    Mountain regions reported a drop of only 9% during the summer.

    The impact of the pandemic on the Italian tourism industry could reach 100 billion euros ($ 118 billion) this year, well above previous estimates, according to recently published studies by tourism groups Confiturismo and Assoturismo.

    The amount represents over 6% of Italy’s GDP at the end of last year.

  • Greece tourism is set to recover next summer

    Greece tourism is set to recover next summer

    Greece’s tourism sector is set to recover next summer said Yannis Retsos, head of the Hellenic Tourism Confederation (SETE), to Reuters.

    The tourism sector in Greece, severely affected by the pandemic, is crucial for the country’s economy, given that it is responsible for about 20% of the GDP and one in five employees works in this field.

    Greece’s tourism revenues stood at 4 billion euros this year, compared to 18 billion euros in 2019, due to global travel restrictions, said Yannis Retsos.

    According to data recently released by the Central Bank of Greece, arrivals of foreign visitors fell by 76% in the first ten months of this year.

    In 2019, Greece registered a record year with over 34 million visitors.

  • Slovakia: Tourism industries accounted for a share of 2,74 % of GDP in 2018

    Slovakia: Tourism industries accounted for a share of 2,74 % of GDP in 2018

    In 2018, the tourism industries produced a total value of EUR 9,9 billion and accounted for a share of 2,74 % of total GDP in Slovak economy and slightly increased year-on-year.

    The tourism direct gross domestic product reached the value of EUR 2,4 billion, which represented a year-on-year higher value of 10,8 %, the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic reported.

    The number of people employed in tourism has been growing continuously since 2013, in 2018 there were 180,7 thousand. Most of them worked in food and beverage services and in passenger transport.

    In total, tourism participants spent almost EUR 5,9 billion (expenditures of domestic and foreigners in the territory of the Slovak Republic as well as expenditures of Slovak citizens on trips abroad).

    Total expenditures increased by 10,2 % year-on-year. The highest part of expenditures of visitors in the territory of the Slovak Republic (domestic and foreign visitors in the Slovak Republic) went to the payments for accommodation and food and beverage services (38 % of expenditures).

    The total number of holiday and business trips within the domestic, inbound and outbound tourism reached the value of 60.9 million trips and increased by 9,5 % year-on-year.

    In Slovakia, domestic visitors and foreigners made a total of 52,6 million trips, of which almost three quarters were same day trips.

  • Bulgarians traveled more across the border in October 2020

    Bulgarians traveled more across the border in October 2020

    In October 2020, during the continuing epidemic situation in the country, the number of the trips of Bulgarian residents abroad was 493.1 thousand, or by 4.2% above the registered in October 2019.

    In October 2020, the number of arrivals of visitors from abroad to Bulgaria was 419.1 thousand or by 45.3% less in comparison with October 2019.

    A collapse in the trips with all observed purposes was registered: ”holiday and recreation” – by 67.7%, ”professional” – by 57.7% and ”others” (including as guest and passing transit) – by 22.5%.

    Transit passes through the country were 53.1% (222.6 thousand) of all visits of foreigners to Bulgaria.

    The share of visits of ЕU citizens was 44.7% of the total number of foreigners’ visits to Bulgaria in October 2020 or by 53.1% less in comparison with the same month of the previous year.

    A drop in the visits of citizens from all observed countries was registered. The visits of foreigners from other European countries decreased by 30.9%.

  • Greece: Travel receipts in September 2020 fell by 71.4%

    Greece: Travel receipts in September 2020 fell by 71.4%

    Travel receipts in Greece, in September, 2020 fell by 71.4% to €826 million, from €2,886 million in September 2019, while travel payments also decreased by 77.1% (September 2020: €49 million, September 2019: €214 million).

    The fall in travel receipts resulted from a 73.9% decline in inbound traveller flows, as average expenditure per trip rose by 12.1%.

    Net receipts from travel services offset 52.1% of the goods deficit and accounted for 72.8% of total net receipts from services.

    Based on Bank of Greece latest data, the balance of travel services in September 2020 showed a surplus of €777 million, compared with a surplus of €2,672 million in September 2019.

    In January-September travel receipts fell by 78.2%

    Travel receipts fell by €12,598 million or 78.2% to €3,509 million, while travel payments also decreased, by €1,371 million or 68.1% to €641 million.

    The drop in travel receipts stemmed from a 2.2% fall in average expenditure per trip and a 77.2% decrease in inbound traveller flows.

    Net receipts from travel services offset 20.3% of the goods deficit and accounted for 50.8% of total net receipts from services.

    In January-September 2020, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €2,868 million, down from a surplus of €14,095 million in the same period of 2019.