Tourist arrivals grew 12.3 pct in the first six months of 2013, Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said on Wednesday. The statistics service, in a report based on a survey by the Bank of Greece, said that arrivals from Europe (which accounts for 86.1 pct of all tourists) grew 10.1 pct in the January-June period, while arrivals from European Union member-states grew 4.6 pct. Arrivals grew significantly from Russia, Germany, Bulgaria and France, while on the other hand, arrivals fell significantly from the UK, Spain and Cyprus.

Germany was the leading country for Greek tourism, with a market share of 12.9 pct, followed by the UK (9.6 pct), France (6.6 pct), Russia (6.2 pct) and Bulgaria (6.1 pct).

Visitors from Asia rose significantly (helped mainly from Turkey), while arrivals from the United States also rose significantly in the first half of the year.