The Austrian press highlights the excellent performance of Greek tourism and the increased interest of travelers and tourists from abroad to visit our country.

In its extensive reporting, the Wiener Zeitung newspaper characteristically emphasizes that “Greek tourism is booming, as confirmed both by the data provided by the Greek Minister of Tourism, Vassilis Kikilias and the president of the Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers (POX) Grigoris Tassios, as well as the CEO of TUI Austria Gottfried Math.

According to WZ, “experts argue that the Greek tourism industry will set a historical record this year, as the goal is to break the 20 billion euro mark in direct revenue, marking a new historical record.

“The Greek Minister of Tourism, Vassilis Kikilias, refers to the optimistic figures of arrivals at the Athens airport so far. The balance is excellent: in the first four months of this year, 4.52 million passengers from abroad landed at Greece’s largest airport. This means an increase of 3.4% compared to the corresponding period in the last year before the coronavirus.” It mentions the article.

For his part, the president of POX Grigoris Tasios states that “the start of the new season was also hopeful. At Easter 30% of all hotels were open, i.e. about 3,000 accommodations. Occupancies were 90% to 100%. In northern Greece we had travelers from the neighboring Balkan countries, mainly Bulgarians and Romanians. The hotels in Athens were 60 to 70% occupied by foreigners, many tourists came from Western Europe and abroad.”

At the same time, direct revenues in the Greek tourism sector amounted to €17.63 billion last year, just 3% less than €18.2 billion in 2019, while holidaymakers’ spending per capita increased from €564 in 2019 to 619 euros the previous year. This means an increase of 9.7%, that is, Greece had slightly fewer tourists in 2022 compared to 2019, but they spent significantly more money on their vacation in Greece than before.

Referring to the “National Plan for Greek Tourism 2030”, WZ points out that the goal is “to make all of Greece a destination for holidaymakers from all over the world, such as for example northern Greece, which has so far been neglected touristically. For this purpose, a total of 36 objectives are to be promoted in the 13 Regions of the country, focusing on the improvement and expansion of infrastructure, digitization, the upgrading of the tourist offer, the protection of the environment and the strengthening of entrepreneurship. In addition, the goal is to make Greece a year-round destination for vacationers from abroad and not just in the summer months from June to August.”

Especially for the tourist traffic from Austria, the publication typically mentions that “Greece is one of the most popular holiday destinations for Austrians”.

According to TUI Austria CEO Gottfried Math, Greece is at the top of its customers’ popular destinations, followed by Spain and Turkey. Destinations around the Mediterranean are setting records: Antalya, Crete, Rhodes and Mallorca are in first place – all four destinations are already above their pre-pandemic level. In Greece, reservations have already been made in some places since March, while most are recorded in Crete, Rhodes, Kos and Corfu.