After two years of quarantine, tourism in Greece is returning to pre-existing indicators at an amazing pace, overtaking competitors. According to official data, income from tourism in 2022 will reach 90% of the level of 2019, when the world was not yet covered by the pandemic. At that time, the Mediterranean destination, previously popular among Ukrainian vacationers, received 18 billion euros in revenue from the tourism sector and 33 million tourists.
According to Greekreporter, citing the Bank of Greece, tourism receipts in April surpassed the pre-April 2019 level, increasing by almost 100 million euros, while the number of travelers arriving from abroad at Greek airports increased by 3.2% in compared to May 2019.
The most popular resorts in Greece in 2022
A recent ForwardKeys report conducted for World Travel Market revealed that six Greek travel destinations are among the top ten most booked travel destinations in Europe for the third quarter of 2022, i.e. July, August, and September. According to the report, islands such as Mykonos and Rhodes recorded a growth of 29% compared to the same period in 2019. In the paradise city of Chania (the north-western part of the island of Crete), the growth was 26%, and in Heraklion – 23%. Tourist traffic to Santorini, a popular tourist island of volcanic origin, rose by 20%, while Thessaloniki’s growth was 17%.
An example for the European Union
This year, Greece has become the only country in Europe that is confidently on course for a full resumption of general and direct air travel after the devastating coronavirus pandemic, according to the Airport Industry Connectivity Report 2022, recently published by ACI Europe, the trade association of European airports. Thus, the passenger flow at the Athens International Airport in June was close to the level of the previous year 2019, and amounted to 2.43 million travelers, which is 6.8% less than in June 2019, while in the first half of the year the tourist flow reached 9.0 million people, which is 20.3% less than in 2019.
In addition, the data also showed that sunny Greece is preparing to receive around 5,000 cruise ships in 2022. This is 25 percent more than before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The port of Piraeus alone will welcome 750 cruise ships this year, including newcomers such as Virgin Cruises and ultra-luxury yachts from the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. Of these, 66% will return home from Piraeus, the largest port in Greece.
Why is tourism in Greece growing at an amazing rate?
Part of the secret behind Greece’s impressive tourism recovery is that the country opened its borders early to foreign tourists after the Orthodox Easter on April 24.
Additionally, all travel restrictions due to COVID-19 have been lifted. While previously travelers had to present a vaccination certificate, or a certificate that they had recovered from the coronavirus, or a negative test, to fly into or leave the country, now no documents are required to enter the country proof of covid status, and airplane passengers do not need to observe the mask regime.
The war in Ukraine contributed to the replacement of Russians with tourists from other countries
The Greek tourism sector is unlikely to be affected by the war in Ukraine, as new markets are already displacing tourists from Russia and Ukraine. This is the conclusion of a report recently published by the Union of Greek Chambers of Commerce in collaboration with Palmos Analysis.
The research was conducted in May in Crete, in Northern Greece, in the Ionian Islands, and in the Southern part of the Aegean region, in which 331 owners and managers of tourism businesses – hoteliers, travel agents, representatives of the food service, car and boat rental, camping sites – participated. According to the findings, Ukrainian and Russian holidaymakers now make up a small percentage of foreign tourists in Greece, and the halt in tourist flows from the two markets has had a limited impact on the viability of the Greek tourism business, analysts say.