Greek visitors made up the fourth biggest European group to visit Melbourne in March this year.
Contributing to the 5 per cent increase to international and domestic passengers at Melbourne Airport, Greek visitors made up almost 6 per cent of the European demographic of passengers.
Overall in the third quarter of 2012/13, 7,455,992 passengers flew into Melbourne Airport.
The shift in Greek visitors could be attributed to the crisis, with many coming as students or visiting family members.
Italian visitors made up the largest percentage in the European group in March, also showing the connection to family in Australia gives a big incentive to visit.
But European travellers didn’t make up the largest percentage of visitors.
Melbourne Airport CEO Mr Chris Woodruff said, “Asia was the strongest performing market for the quarter and continues to make a significant contribution to Victoria’s economy through international visitor expenditure. Passport holders from Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Vietnam and the Philippines all grew by more than 10 per cent.”
US travellers only made up 2 per cent of visitors to Melbourne, indicating the strong dollar might be deterring US tourism.
There was also a 5 per cent increase to domestic travel, boosting Melbourne’s economy.