This year, the total passenger traffic of the first five months of 2022 approached 86% of the passenger traffic of the first five months of 2019.
Greece’s demand for the current one is still moving at high levels tourist year in international markets, something that can be seen from the planned ones air seats for the next two weeks at the Greek airports of the country. In fact, if the data of the arrivals at the gates of the country so far are taken into account, then it is not inappropriate to claim that the arrivals of foreign visitors in 2022 in Greece can reach the levels of 2019.
At this point his vice president Hotel Chamber of Greece Christina Tetradi Speaking to the Athenian Macedonian News Agency, she expressed her optimism for the development of the year and considered that “the arrivals are really going very well so far”. However, it raises its concerns that the re-emergence of the pandemic, the problems at international airports and the ongoing war in Ukraine will cause any “turmoil” that will shake the current good image of arrivals. “The conditions for achieving the figures of 2019 are many, but also the question marks are big, says Mrs. Tetradi.”
Ms. Tetradi notes that we must be careful with the strengthening of the pandemic again, while for the long delays at foreign airports she expresses her concern about what will happen at the peak of the tourist season. He points out that the war in Ukraine is a wound that has not healed, something that is reflected in the daily life of business. “Every week we have different prices on supplier invoices,” he said, with implications for unit operating costs, he said.
With 2019 prices most hotels this year – 5% increase in new contracts are proposed for 2023 by tour operators
In fact, he reminds that the majority of hotels are essentially trapped in the contracts, which have 2019 prices and at the same time have to face increased operating costs. This is a difficult equation for hotels that have tour operator’s contracts, compared to those that have the ability to have individual customers. And these do not exceed 50, as stressed. In the meantime, the proposals of tour operators for 2023 are disappointing, says Mrs. Tetradi in APE-MPE, as the increases they offer are only 5% in relation to this year’s contracts. Even 20% increases to do, are so many increased costs, that do not save the situation, as he states. At this point, the vice president of XEE, referring to the issue of hotel prices, talks about increasing the price of the “package as a whole” and specifically of the air ticket and not of the offered rooms.
At 82 euros the average price of a double room
Regarding hotel prices, the latest version Hotel Observatory for the month of May speaks of an average price for a double room at 82 euros, while occupancy in open hotels amounted to 40.8%. In the period of June, however, the fullness climbed to much higher levels, as it is emphasized.
Addressing the “Greek visitor, she notes that” the hotel prices are the same for both the Greek and the foreign visitor and are not so expensive. It is not possible for the hotel to give another price to the Greek and another to the foreign visitor, since everything is directly comparable on the internet. This is a myth that does not apply to Greek hotels. “
Mrs. Tetradi even urges the potential customer to call the hotel he is interested in and to cross the prices. Of course, if everyone wants to go on vacation on August 15, it is certain that not everyone will find accommodation, he explains.
At 1,819,012 scheduled flights for Greece from June 27th to July 10th
Specifically as its data show Insete, the Recovery tracker, the scheduled air seats for the period from June 27 to July 3 amount to 879,069 seats and for the period from July 4 to July 10 amount to 939,943 aircraft seats. In total, the planned airline seats for Greece in the period under review are 1,819,012 seats. If, of course, these places are covered, we will be talking about 1.81 million visitors who will visit Greece from June 27 to July 10 this year, with all that this implies for the course of the tourist sizes in the coming weeks.
How will the Greek airports move in the next period
Regarding the airports which will have for the period 27/6 to 10/7 increased passenger traffic, Eleftherios Venizelos in Athens with 484,155 scheduled airline seats is at the top. Heraklion and Nikos Kazantzakis Airport follow, as it has 271,323 scheduled seats, while in third place is Rhodes with 213,754 scheduled seats. In the meantime, Corfu for the same period has planned 162,547 air seats, Thessaloniki 122,735 seats, Kos 116,344 seats, Chania 104,131 seats, Santorini 82,229 seats, Zakynthos 82,229 seats, Mykonos 72,233 seats, Kefa 37.16 Aktio 26,303 seats and finally Skiathos with 19,268 scheduled air seats.
England-France-Germany are the top markets
As for the main markets of their origin foreign visitors In the next period, ie from June 27 to July 10, the following countries stand out: England with scheduled 397,298 flights to Greece, Germany with 345,927 flights, Italy with 208,759 flights and France with scheduled 133,874 flights.
What happened in the first five months of 2022 in air and road arrivals
From the provisional statistical data of the CAA for passenger traffic of the airports, the five months January – May 2022, shows that this year the total passenger traffic of the first five months of 2022 approached 86% of the passenger traffic of the first five months of 2019. In the total passenger traffic which was 16.3 million in the five months – January of 2019, for the same examined period of 2022 there was a decrease of 14%. The total number of passengers transported in the first five months of the year amounted to 14 million. In terms of road arrivals, these in May were 301% higher than in May last year and are 16% lower than in 2019.
Passenger traffic at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport is recovering in relation to 2019
Airport passenger traffic during May amounted to 2.05 million passengers and was reduced by 10.2% compared to May 2019 traffic. As we move towards the peak months of the summer season, traffic is gradually recovering from effects of the pandemic, with domestic passenger traffic showing a decrease of 4.3%, while international passenger traffic by 12.8%, compared to 2019. Overall, during the first five months of the year, airport passenger traffic amounted to 6.5 million and remained reduced by 24.4% compared to 2019. Domestic passengers remained below the levels of 2019 by 16.9%, while international passengers by 27.8%.
Tourism is recovering in Athens
“According to the data of AIA, the success of Athens is not accidental, but is a result of the long-term strategy of the Development and Tourism Promotion Company of the Municipality of Athens which in cooperation with all stakeholders aims to promote Athens as sustainable and attractive destination for visitors, investment and talent “.
This is emphasized in a statement to APE-MPE Vangelis Vlachos, CEO of the Development and Tourism Promotion Company of the Municipality of Athens (EATA), on the occasion of the latest statistics from the AIA, but also the real picture of the visitors that flood our city, as Mr. Vlachos states and adds: “We can only be satisfied that Athenian tourism seems to “In fact, there is a possibility that by the end of the season we will exceed the pre-pandemic number of visitors, which shows the confidence of travelers in the city and the experiences it offers.”
Always referring to the work of EATA, Mr. Vlachos reminds that the systematic work done by the Conference Office of the Municipality of Athens (This is Athens-CVB) has raised Athens to the top of conference destinations (6th place in Europe and 8th in the world in the ranking of the International Association of Conferences and Meetings (ICCA).
“The impressive increase in the number of visitors is certainly a significant reward for the effort of organizations and companies but at the same time it is a big bet for the next day as for us the arrival of visitors is just the beginning. The most important thing is to be able to the visitors of Athens leave satisfied with their experience with the city, to become its ambassadors and of course to return again and again “, reports Mr. Vlachos to APE-MPE.
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