Greece’s tourism revenues “reached record levels” in 2022 compared to 2019, the benchmark year before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Greece’s Tourism Minister Vassilis Kykilias said on Tuesday, AFP reported.

“Despite the difficulties in 2022, as a result of the war in Ukraine, Greece managed to achieve record figures compared to the figures of 2019,” stressed the minister, quoted by the Greek press agency Ana.

According to data from the Greek Statistical Office (Elstat), “in August there was an increase in income from accommodation and, accordingly, from public catering, by 23.4% and 13.6%, respectively, compared to 2019,” the minister said. This was reported at the conference of the Union of Tourism Enterprises (Sete) in Athens.

“This proves the effectiveness of our strategy, despite the negative economic situation” (war in Ukraine, inflation, etc.), he said.

For his part, Sete president Yannis Retsos estimated during the conference that this year “tourism revenues will reach and probably exceed the figures of 2019”, according to Ana.

Greece has made sustained efforts this year to offset the decline in tourism revenue in the first two years of the pandemic.

2019 was a landmark year for Greek tourism, with a record 33 million tourists making a significant contribution to the recovery of the economy after a decade of debt crisis (2009-2018).

Tourism is the engine of the country’s economy, representing almost a quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Battered by high inflation like many European countries, Greece expects growth to reach 5.3% this year before slowing to 2.1% in 2023, according to a draft state budget released last week.