The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) announced on Tuesday in Madrid that worldwide tourism posted growth of 4.7 percent in arrivals in 2014, while Greece experienced a 22.2 percent annual increase in the first nine months of the year alone.

The Association of Hellenic Tourism Enterprises (SETE) confirmed on Tuesday that international arrivals reached a total of 24 million last year, which has become an international point of reference. SETE also confirmed that travel receipts amounted to 13.5 billion euros, and the sector created more than 100,000 jobs last year alone.

For 2015 SETE stated that “the tourism industry is rolling up its sleeves again to continue the hard work aiming to cover the ground lost in recent months and to lay the foundations for even better results in relation to last year.”

The UNWTO estimated that global tourism arrivals will grow further within 2015 by 3 to 4 percent, after reaching 1.14 billion in 2014. Europe reached a record 588 million international arrivals last year.

Source: Kathimerini