By Petros Stefanis

 

 

Tourism has a strong footprint on the Athens Stock Exchange, as several listed companies from various sectors of the economy are affected – some more, others less – by the performance of tourism. This has a strong effect on the profitability, annual dividends, as well as the course of the shares.

 

Transport, hotels, cruise, beverages – alcohol, food, cosmetics and consumer products are some of the industries that directly or indirectly correlate with tourism, with the respective listed companies expecting to benefit from the national “champion” of the economy.

 

Industry numbers so far show we are heading for yet another record, defying those who saw a potential pullback from 2023 impressive performance. The first quarter of 2024 showed further improvement in revenue (+28.2%) and arrivals (+24.5%), while the CAA data for the first half showed an increase of +11.4% in passenger traffic at domestic airports.

 

All this remains to be reflected on the Athens  Stock Exchange, which needs the shares of the tourism sector, in order to “forget” as quickly as possible the recent slippage from the multi-year highs of 1,502 points. However, the truth is that the benefits of record-breaking performances are not reflected in the same way in all the companies involved.

 

At the same time, passenger traffic in Greek airports soars

 

 

Passenger traffic in 39 Greek airports where commercial flights are conducted recorded an increase of 9.5% from January to July compared to the same period last year, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said.

 

More specifically, the number of passengers rose to 42,538,219 from 38,833,074 in the corresponding period last year.

 

An increase of 6.9% in domestic and international aircraft arrivals and departures was also recorded compared to the corresponding period between January and July 2023.  In particular, 328,272 flights were carried out, compared to 306,982 flights in the seven months of 2023.

 

Passenger traffic at the 24 airports managed by the CAA showed an increase of 5% in the same period.

 

In particular, the total number of passengers (international and domestic arrivals and departures) totaled 6,054,816 in the first seven months of the year, compared to 5,768,484 passengers in the corresponding period of 2023.

 

The airport of Kasos recorded the highest increase (+89.8%), followed by Milos airport (+33%), Naxos airport (+30%), and Sitia (+27.7%).

 

Passengers in “Nikos Kazantzakis” airport in Heraklion, Crete, soared to 1,618,073 in July this year, i.e. up 3% compared to last year.