Hotels have very good occupancy rates throughout Greece. “We also saw a lot of people on the small islands that have dynamically entered the market in the last decade”
This year’s August entered strongly in terms of tourist figures, as despite the difficult conditions there was a 17% increase in arrivals to the islands of the Southeast Aegean in the first 7 days, compared to the corresponding period of 2019, as recently stated by the Minister of Tourism Vassilis Kikilias while the three days of the fifteenth of August were added to the travelers and those of religious and pilgrimage tourism in various destinations in Greece.
The last month of the summer sets the tone for the next month as well, with the hotels taking note very good occupancy throughout Greece and foreign tourists from markets such as Germany, England and elsewhere to continue their holidays in our country in September, while in northern Greece the Balkans, who are its main suppliers, continue until the middle of September, as he notes speaking to Athenaikos and Macedonian News Agency the president of the Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers Grigoris Tassios.
With the data of August, it seems that we are going through a transitional year, as Mr. Tassios says: “Good for the state’s revenues but transitional for the hoteliers, due to the operating costs and the differentiation by region. Certainly in October we will record losses, but as I mentioned above, it is a transitional year for businesses that will be able to restart in 2023 and with more people.”
At the same time, the excellent course of tourism, as mentioned by Mr. Kikilias, is also reflected in short-term rentals (Airbnb), in which an increase of 26.5% was recorded in the months of July, August and September compared to the corresponding months of 2019.
“What we noticed this year about the people who traveled is that they were restrained in terms of their spending, as customers have been affected by what is happening and it makes sense, however all the destinations are full”, underlines Mr. Tassios”
“Also in northern Greece there were good occupancy rates, such as in Thassos, Halkidiki, Pieria where it’s just that the season instead of 110 that was in 2019 was reduced to 90 days mainly for Balkan travelers,” he adds.
“On the three days of August 15, people moved and traveled to worship in the churches and celebrate the Dormition of the Virgin in destinations such as Syros, Patmos, Mytilini, Paros, Tinos of course, and in northern Greece in Vermio, Halkidiki and elsewhere”, says Lysandros Tsilidis, President of the Federation of Greek Associations of Tourist and Travel Agencies (FedHATTA). “However, in general, this year’s August filled all of Greece, the movement of the masses was also evident on the ships. This year we also saw a lot of people in the small islands that in the last decade have entered the market strongly and especially recently, with the promotion that is done for the different product that they have to offer, the milder way of vacationing, friendly for families and matching the trend that it’s called slow tourism”, adds Mr. Tsilidis.
As far as organized tours are concerned, the average from the beginning of the year to date for both internal and external, reaches 65% of 2019 for the corresponding period, as he notes.
“Fully-booked” Peloponnese
Nearby destination and affordable option, the Peloponnese attracted a lot of three-day travelers, as, as the Deputy Regional Governor of Tourism Anna Kalogeropoulou emphasizes, it was fully booked in all areas. “We are very pleased, not only with the traffic of the three days, but also with the entire previous period. We, however, work on it and give incentives through the development of thematic tourism and experiential experiences for city break visitors and short getaways. Of course, we have the security of domestic tourism, but we see that visitors from abroad also choose us, as this year the flights at Captain Vassilis Konstantakopoulos airport are particularly increased until November. And of course the data from the pre-bookings show a good presence for the next period as well”, notes Mrs. Kalogeropoulou.
“Of course, the Peloponnese also has a special feature, it moves mainly with individual last minute travelers, so the “checkout” takes place at the end of the season. We continue the promotion throughout the year, and I want to note here that thanks to the Ministry of Tourism and the EOT, winter tourism, mainland Greece and city break destinations were also shown systematically for the first time”, he adds.
Pelion: Mountain, sea and easy access
About 80% of the visitors to Pelion, Volos and the region in general are Greeks who chose the destination not only for the beaches and picturesque villages but also for the easy access. According to the president of the Hoteliers Union of Magnesia Giorgos Zafeiris, occupancy rates exceed 95% by the end of August and there is a good trend for September. “This year foreign visitors reached 20% with the French, Germans, Austrians and Italians stable while the Balkans decreased. A very important role for the Greeks was played by social tourism, which gave a great boost”, he adds.
Thassos is also full
Although May and June were not as strong months, July’s increase of 9% to 10% filled this gap, and the island of Thassos is now reaching 2019 levels in terms of tourist traffic, as the president of the Association of Hoteliers of Thassos Paris Paraschoudis points out,
“The increase that occurred was a large number, we reached our limits. In other words, the island does not have the infrastructure to accommodate more people during the high tourist season of July and August. Officially we have about 10,500 hotel beds and 13,500 rental beds. Usually the island has a total of 50,000 to 60,000 people including visitors, locals and workers and this is the capacity of the island. The three days naturally had many visitors like the good old days. A very important market for us are the Romanians, who are estimated to be as high as 40%”, notes Mr. Paraschoudis. Regarding September, as he said, it is a key month because if it marks the numbers of 2019 we will have a season overall 6-7% better than 2019. If not, then the season will close at the same levels as 2019.
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