Greek tourism appeared undented in August, with international tourist arrivals in the country’s main airports increasing 4.6 per cent compared to the same period of 2014, reaching 3 million, the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) said on Thursday.

According to the data, in the first eight months of the year, arrivals rose 6.3 per cent to 11.7 million. Looking at individual destinations, all airports increased their arrivals with the exceptions of Rhodes (-2.3 per cent), Kos (-2.1 per cent) and Heraklion (-1.7 per cent).

In Athens, international arrivals jumped 23 per cent in August, year-on-year, and 26 per cent in the eight months to August.

“Despite the difficult economic situation and the serious problems facing the industry in the midst of this year’s tourist season, the intensive, persistent and systematic work of all relevant bodies, entrepreneurs and employees in tourism is bearing fruit, achieving one more record,” SETE said in its announcement.

The association also argued that if the situation in the market remains stable, the current year is expected to close with a total of 26 million international arrivals, which will translate into more than 14.5 billion euros in immediate revenues, “adding one percentage point to the country’s GDP, actively supporting the local communities”.