Rodos And Kos See Major Non-Resident Arrival Increase

Although non-resident arrivals showed a 1.3 percent decrease from last year levels in the first seven months of 2010, Greek islands Kos and Rodos enjoyed more visitors despite the economic downturn, according to figures released by the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE).

Kos saw an upward trend of 10.46 percent in non-resident arrivals from abroad during the January-July period.

According to tourism professionals, Kos received a boost with the start of the low cost airline flights of easyJet (from London) and Ryannair (from Frankfurt and Milan).

Rodos was seen to be on the same wavelength as Kos in terms of arrivals as it recorded an increase of 7.61 percent, while in July alone arrivals reached 11.81 percent.

However, Greek tourists visiting Rodos dropped by 16.93 percent for the same period.

SETE’s data also showed that during the January-July period the airports of Kefalonia and Santorini also saw an increase of foreign arrivals.

Airports that saw a drop were those of Athens, Thessaloniki, Kerkyra, Heraklio, Chania, Zakynthos, Samos, Skiathos and Aktios.