Eurostat figures show that longer holidays and a strong preference for domestic travel pushed Greece to the bottom of the EU ranking for nightly tourism expenditure.
People living in Greece spent an average of €49.40 per person for each night of travel in 2024, the lowest amount in the European Union and less than half the bloc-wide average of €104, according to Eurostat.
The result adds another measure of pressure on Greek consumers, whose spending choices are shaped by household budgets as well as the price and length of a holiday. Separate EU comparisons have also highlighted the broader challenge posed by household expenses in Greece.
Portugal, Lithuania, Poland and Czechia were the other member states where travelers spent less than €70 per person per night. At the high end, residents of Luxembourg, Austria, Sweden, Ireland, Malta, Estonia and Cyprus each recorded nightly expenditure of at least €130.
The statistics cover residents aged 15 or older taking domestic or foreign trips with at least one overnight stay outside their usual surroundings. Both personal and business journeys are included.
Longer trips change Greece’s position
Greece’s last-place position for spending per night does not mean its residents had the EU’s lowest average bill for a complete journey. Travelers living in Greece spent about €473 per trip, only €45 below the EU average of €518. By comparison, average trip expenditure in Lithuania, Czechia and Latvia was below €270.
The difference between the nightly and per-trip rankings reflects the length of Greek residents’ journeys. More than 80 percent of their tourism expenditure was directed toward trips lasting four nights or longer. Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands were the only other countries where long trips took a similarly large share of residents’ travel budgets.
When fixed costs are spread over a longer stay, the expense per night can fall even when the total paid for the journey remains substantial. The figures therefore offer policymakers and tourism businesses a more complex picture than the nightly ranking alone: Greek travelers spend cautiously from day to day but often remain away for longer.
Domestic tourism dominates Greek budgets
Destination choice also helps explain the low average. More than 70 percent of tourism spending by Greek residents went to travel inside Greece. Romania was the only other member state where domestic trips exceeded that share of residents’ total tourism budgets.
Across the EU, a domestic trip cost €303 on average, compared with €1,053 for travel abroad. The gap also appeared in daily costs: domestic travelers spent €78 per person per night, while those traveling internationally spent €135.
For Greece, this preference keeps more household tourism spending within the national economy, making domestic visitors important to local businesses alongside foreign arrivals. The effect is not evenly distributed: data on regional tourism spending in Greece point to Crete’s leading role, while the South Aegean and Ionian Islands also rank prominently in European tourism comparisons.
The pattern has consequences for public policy. National and regional authorities must balance support for tourism-dependent destinations with transport, infrastructure and affordability concerns affecting residents. Eurostat’s figures do not evaluate those policies, but they show that Greeks’ travel demand is strongly tied to longer domestic stays.
EU tourism spending reached €618 billion
Residents across the EU spent an estimated €618 billion on tourism in 2024, 11 percent more than in 2023. Domestic journeys made up 71 percent of all trips but generated 42 percent of spending. Foreign travel represented 29 percent of journeys and 58 percent of expenditure.
German and French residents together accounted for 49 percent of the bloc’s tourism expenditure, compared with 43 percent of all trips. Accommodation received 35 percent of the total tourism budget and transportation 27 percent. Food, shopping, activities and other costs made up the remaining 38 percent.
Leisure, holiday and recreational travel generated 68 percent of expenditure. Business trips accounted for 13 percent but carried higher nightly costs: €203 per person, compared with €112 for personal travel.
The Greek figure should not be confused with tourism revenue earned from overseas visitors. It measures spending by people who reside in Greece when they travel at home or abroad, rather than the amount foreign tourists contribute to the Greek economy.
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