Greece Sees Drop In Air Arrivals

Air arrivals to Greek airports appeared reduced by 7.8 percent for the January-October 2009 period while for the month of October the decline reached 6.2 percent, the Institute of Tourist Research and Forecasts (ITEP) reported recently.

According to ITEP, air arrivals last October to Greece, Athens excluded, remained at 2008 levels while Athens recorded a significant decline of 16 percent. The negative trends were worse for Chios (-26 percent), Kefallonia (-21.4 percent), Chania (-13.5 percent) and Samos (-13 percent). Other areas such as Rodos (-2.1 percent) Mytilini (-3.7 percent) and Skiathos (-4.1 percent) managed to curb the negative trends.

As for competitor countries, except Turkey, ITEP said that tourist airport arrivals were also negative.

As for Greece’s tourism revenue, the January-September period saw an 11.7 percent decrease with hotel industry revenue down more than 18 percent.