Visa Study: Turkish Arrivals to Greece Jump 114% in 2024
Source: GTP Headlines
Nikos Petrakis, Country Manager at Visa Greece. Photo © Greek Travel Pages
Greece’s seven-day visa scheme has helped drive a 114 percent increase in tourist arrivals from Türkiye in 2024, according to a survey conducted by Visa Greece.
Data collected through October 2024 show that the visa-on-arrival program for the Greek islands contributed to a sharp rise in Turkish visitors, positioning Türkiye as a key emerging tourism market for Greece.
Visa Greece Country Manager Nikos Petrakis presented the findings during a media briefing in Athens.
Overall, Greece recorded a 17 percent increase in total arrivals, with the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Cyprus rounding out the top six source markets. Athens attracted the highest number of visitors.
In terms of spending behavior, most travelers preferred paying by card, with total tourist spending up 14 percent year-on-year. Of that amount, 25 percent went to nightlife, food, and beverage services, while 8 percent was spent at supermarkets.
Visa partners with the Greek Tourism Ministry
Acropolis, Athens.
During his speech, Petrakis noted that the study was part of Visa’s Memorandum of Cooperation with the Greek Tourism Ministry, signed in 2022 to support the recovery of the sector following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are working with the Tourism Ministry to support strategic planning based on real data,” he said. “Our aim is to further develop Greece’s tourism product, attract high-end travelers, and extend the tourist season.”
According to Petrakis, Visa’s data enables the ministry to shape a more targeted and competitive tourism strategy – one that identifies visitor spending patterns, highlights top-performing destinations, and benchmarks Greece’s performance against other Mediterranean markets.
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