Greece’s hopes that tourists will return as health measures linked to the COVID-19 pandemic are eased are already resulting in mass arrivals of Americans who had been largely kept away since the start of the health crisis in 2020.
Tourism officials said the trend shows the numbers could come close to the record year of 2019, when 1,178,988 Americans arrived.
This makes the United States the seventh largest market behind Germany, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Romania, and just ahead of Turkey, Serbia and Albania.
Americans are a key market for Greece in terms of spending, ranking third in 2019, with 1.189 billion euros ($1.13 billion), behind Germany and the United Kingdom but ahead of France and the ‘Italy.
The data is a boost amid fears that the effect on fuel prices and global political upheaval linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would keep people at home for a third summer in a row and would reduce Greece’s main source of income.
And figures from 2021, when people began visiting in greater numbers but well below 2019, showed that Americans doubled their average per capita spending to $1,500, supported by a large Greek-American diaspora .
And this figure, Kathimerin said in a report on the upcoming peak season, does not include airfare and accommodation, which further increases its importance, especially for hotels, resorts and short-term rental platforms like Airbnb.
The newspaper says Americans, even in early spring, are visiting everywhere from the capital’s grand hotels to archaeological sites and museums, some reports in greater numbers than ever before.
At the end of March, the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE) said active airline bookings for travel from the United States to Greece had reached the same level as at the same time in 2019.
The organization said Greece appears to have recovered a larger share of its pre-pandemic inbound traffic from the United States, compared to other southern European countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal.
A recent survey by Tourix, based on Google data, shows that most searches for tourist destinations in Greece come from the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, France and Germany, the report also adds.
Major U.S. airlines have scheduled a record number of direct flights to Greece for this season, with up to 22,000 seats per week expected for flights from the United States to Greece this summer.
Greek tourism industry sources said this was for a number of reasons, including the country losing its image as an economically struggling country, the financial and austerity crisis of 2010 to 2018 is eased and health restrictions were quickly eased as the New Democracy government focused attention. on economic recovery.
And while summer is the most popular time, driven by people wanting to go to the beach and islands, Greece is working to make the country a year-round destination, with figures showing that the spring becomes more attractive for cultural tourism.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, The Greek Islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek Tourism Report
Photo source: Athens Walking Tours
