Greece’s tourism is about to break the record for the best year – 2019. According to the Athens Chamber of Commerce, the industry’s revenues have already exceeded 20 billion euros. Some of the Greek islands such as Crete and most of the islands in the Aegean Sea are 100% full.
Greece celebrates its strongest tourist season. The islands are ahead of mainland Greece in the number of tourists, as most hotels there are full by the end of August. Cruises to the Greek islands are attractive to tourists.
“A year ago there were one, two, three cruises, now there are 62 of them. With them, tourists go around the islands, reach North Africa, Crete and Cyprus and return. This is an unprecedented action. There is no place to stay in Thessaloniki during the weekend. Due to the needs, new hotels are already being built,” Deputy Governor of Thessaloniki Paraskevi Patulidou commented to BNT.
The most visited islands are Santorini, Mykonos, Crete, and Rhodes. Traditionally, tourists choose the northern part of the country. In addition to beautiful beaches, tourists are satisfied with the service in Greece.
“The service is at a very high level, the people are very kind, smiling, the staff behaves properly. The staff has received training in the field of service,” says tourist Kremena Yordanova.
Also read: The favorite resorts of European tourists in Greece and Turkey are on the verge of an armed conflict
According to to guide Kyriakos Hadjistephanou, the tourism boom in Greece this season is surprising.
“This year, Russians and Ukrainians were replaced by Americans, Germans, and Israelis. They compensated for the ebb and flow of warring countries. They are solvent. The results are already there in our economy,” says guide Kyriakos Hadjistefanou.
But despite the great interest, Greece has no shortage of problems. Hotels note that, in addition to the war, they suffered from the aviation crisis in Europe.
“Traffic chaos and delays at European airports – this, believe me, affects the tourism of the entire Mediterranean. After almost catastrophic 2 years of the pandemic, now the war in Ukraine has intensified the crisis. We are loading warehouses because we don’t know how much the prices will rise. Due to gas prices, Greek tourists seem to have disappeared. In general, we have a lower budget in the Balkans. Until September, my hotel is fully booked,” says hotel owner Sokratis Kirtsios.
Due to the record high level of tourism, Greece plans to extend the season until November 15.
DIP previously reported that entry into the sea is prohibited on the beaches of Greece due to pollution, see the link for details.