With the best conditions, the tourist season for the island of Rhodes has started and everything indicates that this year will be a dynamic year for tourism on the island, a fact that will have corresponding benefits for the local economy that is oriented towards tourism.

The tourist season started three weeks earlier than in previous years and is expected to last longer based on scheduled flights.

“The season will be equal to and maybe even better than that of 2022 which was the best year in the history of Rhodesian tourism” the president of the Hoteliers’ Union of Rhodes told APE-MBE Manolis Markopoulos expressing his satisfaction with how things are going.

“The good thing is that everyone is happy and increased compared to their rates both last year and 2019”, said Mr. Markopoulos and underlined that what is now preoccupying the hotel industry today is that now that the signing of the contracts of 2024 should manage to transform this positive climate into better prices for next year, so this will bring a better customer to Rhodes, giving hotels greater scope to meet their financial obligations.

“From the existing data, apart from the fact that the English are ranked first and then the Germans, it can be seen that the Scandinavian market is recovering and in fact according to the estimates if tourists from all the Nordic countries are added then they will be in first place, which shows that they are returning in Rhodes gradually” Mr. Markopoulos points out to APE-MBE.

The developments regarding the treatment of the lack of staff in the hotel units, which has been severe in the previous two years, are also positive. In general, we have managed to deal with it, emphasizes the president of the Rhodes Hoteliers’ Union, by attracting workers from other regions of Greece, for whom in several cases their accommodation has been secured by the hotel units.

“The season has started dynamically for Rhodes as seventy-two flights have been planned for the month of March which will bring around ten thousand visitors to the island, while April is expected to be…spectacular” the Deputy Mayor of Tourism of Rhodes states to APE-MPE. Thanasis Byrinis, who specifically said: “The messages are now not just auspicious but visible and already for March we know that 72 flights have been launched, around 10,000 visitors. If we consider that, last year in March, we were at 3800, you realize that the momentum has already started and is increasing”.

However, the deputy mayor then noted: “I’m not hiding that the numbers may be prosperous, but everyone’s concern is about the purchasing power of travelers because we all spent a difficult winter energy-wise, especially the Northern Europeans, so special attention needs to be paid to the tourist product. The upgrade that we are constantly evangelizing should also be noticeable to visitors”

Also, according to Mr. Vyrini, after March 26, approximately 20% of the island’s hotel units will open, while by the end of April all hotels will have opened. “I think it’s a year which, from what is predicted, will have a lot of weight in the months of April and May – and indeed, the omens say it will be the best April ever – so that means hotels will also they are open on time and so are the tourist businesses”, he pointed out

During this period, charter arrivals are less frequent since the companies also want to fill the planes, so the frequency is not known but after March 26th it will increase and he estimates that from the beginning of April we will be in a normal tourist season. In fact, if this is combined with the Catholic Easter as well as the Christian Easter, “we will have a spectacular April”, concluded the deputy mayor.

Similar estimates for the season were expressed in statements to the local media by the president of the Union of Dodecanese Tourist Offices, Mr. Christos Michalakis, who confirmed that the messages for 2023 are positive and that everyone is moderately optimistic, stressing that this year we will fluctuate in the numbers of 2022 but it is not excluded at the end of the season to record an increase as well.

Of course, as he said, we will not have an increase from all markets, some will be maintained at last year’s levels, some will do better than others, some may have a small decrease, stressing that at the moment there is nothing to worry us in terms of arrivals.

Particularly positive is the fact that the air seats that were planned for Rhodes remain, which means that nothing will change in terms of planning. It is noted that flights have increased by around 7.5% compared to last year, but even if some changes are made, they will not bring spectacular reductions. There is also the possibility of launching larger aircraft depending on the capability of each airline.

“The happy fact is that we start earlier this year and that March and April will be better months than last year, while we must not forget the cruise that also starts early this year. The four months of June, July, August and September cannot bring more people because we have reached the peak since last year, although new beds have been added to the market this year,” said Mr. Michalakis.