PERFORMANCE, ADAPTATION MARGARITA MANNOUSOU

In a recent briefing by INSETE (Institute of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises) we read about the very important contribution of road tourism to the positive development of the Greek tourism product. Especially for this year, during which the difficulties of air flights may cause additional problems both in the arrival of visitors from abroad and in the movement of domestic tourism, road tourism is of particular importance. As for the data on road tourism in 2019, its contribution to inbound tourism amounted to 9.6 million. arrivals, 38.2 million overnight stays and 1.8 billion euros in revenue, representing 30.6% of total arrivals, 16.4% of overnight stays and 10.1% of revenue. Our main markets in road tourism as reflected in the study are Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Albania, Turkey and North Macedonia.

According to the study, road tourism is an important part of inbound tourism in Greece, especially for Northern Greece (Thrace, Macedonia, Epirus).

On the other hand, road tourism is characterised by a relatively low Average Per Capita Expenditure (€185 compared to €731 for other tourism and €564 for all inbound tourism). An important factor is the low Average Length of Stay and the low Average Cost per Night (47 euros compared to 82 euros and 76 euros respectively). An interesting element relates to the strong seasonality and high concentration in the third quarter of the year. In particular, 67% of total road tourism revenues flowed into the country in the third quarter, compared to 58% of the rest of tourism and 59% of the total. Therefore, the opening of the borders allows the exploitation of the strong pre-existing demand for road tourism for this quarter. The ease of access and the sense of security and independence offered by travelling in a private vehicle could potentially boost the aforementioned expected demand in the third quarter.

The evolution of arrivals, overnight stays and revenues by market

The data concerning the countries of origin of travellers in terms of road tourism revenues are also interesting. The steady upward trend in Romania stands out, which in 2019 was the largest market with 354 million euros. and Bulgaria (3rd largest with €282 million). Serbia (2nd largest with €297 million) shows fluctuations. Albania has been on an increasing trend since 2014, with a slight decrease in 2019 (€200 million). A downward trend also for Turkey after 2015, with a slight recovery in 2017 but, possibly due to the depreciation of the Turkish Lira, a decrease in 2018 and then a slight recovery in 2019 (EUR 171 million). Finally, North Macedonia, after an increasing trend until 2014, is now on a downward trend and the revenues from this country in 2019 amounted to 114 million euros. euro. The other countries of road tourism show constant fluctuations and in 2019 the revenues from these countries amounted to 360 million euros. euro.

The study was implemented by INSETE in the framework of the Act:
“Strengthening the institutional and operational capacity of SETE”, which is part of the Operational Programme “Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning NSRF 2014-2020” and co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF).