On the Road Again… Arrivals to Greece from Bulgaria, Turkey Rise

Road travelers from neighboring Turkey and Bulgaria are sending land arrival figures in Greece to new heights, figures released recently by Greek daily Kathimerini show.

According to the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), the number of tourist arrivals via road to Greece is expected to reach 10 million this year. SETE Intelligence interim figures for the January-July period this year reveal a 22 percent increase of arrivals by road to Greece compared to the same period last year, despite a 4 percent drop due to the political instability last month.

Two million road arrivals to Greece are expected from Turkey and Bulgaria alone, Kathimerini shows.

According to Bulgarian tourism ministry figures, land arrivals in the first six months of 2015 grew by 18.7 percent against the same period in 2014, coming to 450,000. Greece came second after Turkey as a top destination choice for Bulgarian holidaymakers. The ministry expects more than 1 million travelers to opt for Greece by the end of the year.

Turkey is also growing into a top market for Greek tourism with over 1 million travelers expected to hit Greek destinations in 2015. According to a Bank of Greece report, 90 percent of Turkey’s vacationers come to Greece via road.

At the same time, the number of Greeks traveling to Turkey grew in 2014 by 18.1 percent, to over 830,000.