Greeks spend lavishly on travel and dining despite crisis

As usual, the numbers dissolve some myths. This time, by publishing information on the costs "devoted" by Europeans to their recreation and especially those related to tourism, ie spending on hotels and restaurants. The average European outlay is 8.8%, which means that Europeans on average account for about 740 billion euros of their total consumption in this "package", equivalent to 4.8% of the Union's GDP or 1,400 euros of expenditure per capita.

If you are looking for what is happening with Greece, it will probably be surprising. The Greeks spend 15.4% of their budget on hotels and restaurants, about 20.2 billion euros, which places Greece in fourth place, behind Malta, Cyprus and Spain, while looking at the so-called large economies  e.g. the French give just 7.3% for such costs. It should be noted that the percentage for Greece was 13.4% in 2007, ie even before the clouds of the crisis loomed on the horizon.