“Jackpot” 11 million euros: Knossos turned out to be a “gold mine” in 2023, surpassing the receipts of 2019 (tables)

Culture in Crete generates a lot of money, even if it is considered by some that it is not beneficial for a place to invest in its history and culture! Revenues on the island from museums and archaeological sites exceeded 18.5 million euros in 2023, with Knossos claims 11 million euros from them as a turnover!

At the same time, and the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion showed a large increase in visitors and revenues, while Spinalonga is once again proving to occupy the immediate highest position in terms of visitors and revenues after Knossos. Visitation to the museums and archaeological sites of Crete has increased enormously in recent years, depending on the tourist increase, however, the record that Knossos made in 2023 is unprecedented, since not only was it ranked 2nd in attendance after the Acropolis with approximately 1,000,000 visitors in a year, but also the receipts from tickets, which reached 10,968,521 euros, according to the processing of EL.STAT data.

This amount is record amount and if the calculations are verified, that and this year the traffic will again be close to 1 million or even surpass it, we should expect receipts of more than 15 million euros, since already from April 1st the ticket got a 30% increase.

As early as mid-March and later there are days when visitors arriving on the island flock to admire the palace of Minos they reach 1,000 or even 2,000, depending on whether it is a cruise day or not. In the summer months, these visits explode in multiple numbers and despite the sun and the discomfort, the tourist is patient, in order to visit even once the wonderful world of the Minoan Age.

Knossos, which is being serialized along with the other Minoan palaces of Crete in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, is already proving to be enjoying worldwide recognition, being in high demand even in the winter months. During 2023, the total number of visitors to the archaeological sites of the Heraklion Regional Unit, as recorded by EL.STAT., will reach 1,390,214 people. Of these, 959,110 went to Knossos. The visitation of Knossos presents 2023 an increase of 15.4% compared to 2022, which recorded 831,320 visits, while for the Heraklion Museum the increase was 18.1% with 294,839 visitors.

Impressive rise also occurs in the fortress of Koules, which is the next most visited monument with 171,668 visitors, in the prefecture of Heraklion. In fact, both Knossos and Koules still “cut” tickets and collect in the winter, since for example in December, when there are no tourists, 18,144 people visited the monument and in January 5,157. The zenith of visits to Knossos was recorded in the months of July with 213,145 visitors, in August with 245,481 and in September with 207,133 visitors. In the same time period, 28,271 people went to Koule for July, 30,330 in August and 28,824 in September.

Spinalonga has a monopoly in Lasithi, which arrived only in the month of August to receive 81,485 visitors, while total visits in 2023 reached 408,066. The cave of Psychrou, Dikteo Andros, is the second most visited monument in Lasithi with 190,531 visits in 2023 and in August reaching its zenith with 38,542.

Receipts

And if the numbers of visitors are impressive, then the citation of the numbers that reflect the receipts in euros cause… awe, since the monuments of Heraklion collected a total of 12,524,809 euros in 2023, while Knossos alone sold tickets worth 10,968,521 euros! In fact, the receipts of Knossos in the year 2023 exceeded the receipts of 2019, which is considered a success story year and the last one before the pandemic, which all went to zero.

In 2019, the collections in Knossos reached 10,155,161 euros, while in 2023 they reached 10,968,521 euros, i.e. they exceeded every target! In fact, from April to October 2023 money is collected in Knossos that exceeds 1 million and in August it barely touched 2 million euros. Specifically, in April 2023 1,003,794 euros were collected, in May 1,315,932 euros, in June 2023 1,529,856 euros were collected, in July 1,753,069 euros, in August 1,920,634 euros, in September 1,705,299 euros and in October also 1,404,814 euros!

In the remaining months, which are considered “dead”, again the collections were good, since in January they exceeded 34 thousand euros, in February 21 thousand euros, in March 82,619 euros, in November 154,312 euros and in December 42 thousand euro.

Collections in Crete soared to over 18.5 million euros

In total the revenues from the archaeological sites of Crete reach 15,917,747 euros, of which approximately 11 million euros come from Knossos, 2.3 million euros from Spinalonga and the rest from the other archaeological sites of the island. The revenues from the Museums of Crete reach a total of 2,666,530 euros in 2023, of which 2,424,352 from the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion and only 199,869 from the Museum of Chania.

The number is impressive, since the history and cultural capital in Crete generates over 18.5 million euros per year (specifically 18,574,277 euros) and few return to the island for conservation, restoration, enrichment and re-display for even greater public attraction.
This is not the first time that Knossos and the Museum have reached the top. They surpassed in revenue in 2019, but also had the biggest increase compared to other museums and archaeological sites in Greece.

December is a positive omen

Many consider that December 2023 in terms of its visitation shows that it bodes well for the new tourist season of 2024, since in Knossos the increase compared to December 2022 skyrocketed at a rate of 105.4%. In December 2022, Knossos was visited by 8,834 people and in the same month of 2023, the visits reached 18,144.