The key tourism sector for Mediterranean country Greece fell by 11.6 per cent in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2008, according to data from the Central Bank of Greece Thursday, highlighting the impact of the global economic slowdown.

The statistics were also gloomy for the eastern Mediterraean island of Cyprus were tourism fell by 7.5 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Greece is one of the world's 20 most popular tourist destinations, attracting more than 15 million tourists and earning some 12 billion euros in revenue each year. It accounts for about 18 per cent of domestic product.

Tourism which employs 300,000 people in Greece and 40,000 in Cyprus has been slow recently as the recession has taken its toil on US and European tourists.