Russians support Greece during rough times

According to the Central Bank of Greece, during 2012, Russia generated the most actively increasingtourist flow, which helped compensate some negative aspects of the economic crisis. 875 thousand Russian tourists spent about one billion euros in Greece.

The overall inbound tourist flow decreased by 5.5% to a total of 15.5 million tourists. Yet the tourist flow from Russia increased by 18.4%, compared to 2011 numbers.

The tourist flow from EU countries decreased by 11%, compared to last year. For instance, the flow from France went down by 15%, from Germany – by 5.9%. Yet British tourists started coming more often, increasing their tourist flow by 9.3%.

The income from tourism amounted to 10 billion euros, decreasing by 4.6%. Tourists from EU spent about 4.3 billion euros, which is 13% less than in 2011. Yet Russians spent about 947 million euros, which is 27% more than during last year.