Greek Tourism On Comeback Trail

The start of this year’s tourism season in Greece seems to confirm the initial forecasts that referred to 2013 as a “record year” in terms of international arrivals.

According to official data for the month on May, arrivals to Greece from the UK showed a 25 percent increase and from Poland a 42 percent increase.

Russian arrivals to Greece showed an increase of over 70 percent. Reports said this implies that “even better results” should be expected during July and August, when the largest wave of visitors would arrive.

Data from traditional tourism markets is also encouraging as arrivals from Germany showed a 15 percent increase.

Also, arrivals from the markets of Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, Norway and the Czech Republic also appeared satisfying. On the other hand, arrivals were down from Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Greek destinations visited the most in May

Zakynthos

The Ionian islands are among the destinations that received the most foreign arrivals last month compared with May 2012.

More specifically, arrivals were up on Kefalonia by 18.7 percent, on Corfu by 19.5 percent and on Zakynthos by 33.47 percent.

Rhodes and Chania are also added to this season’s popular destinations. In May, Rhodes welcomed some 214.000 tourists (eight percent increase) while Chania saw a 28 percent increase (115.000 tourists).