INSETE: August 2018 Tourist Arrivals Up in Greece

Photo © GTP

Greek tourism continued its upward trend in August this year, according to figures released recently by the Greek Tourism Confederation’s (SETE) intelligence body INSETE.

According to INSETE’s monthly bulletin, an increase in air arrivals were recorded last August 2018 compared to the same month in 2017.

Photo © GTP

During August, Greece’s main airports recorded an 8.3 percent increase in international arrivals, bringing the growth of arrivals since the beginning of the year to reach 13.4 percent. An increase was recorded in both Athens International Airport (14.3 percent) and regional airports (6.8 percent), while the respective increases from the beginning of the year were 20.3 percent and 11.2 percent respectively.

On the other hand, international road arrivals dropped by 8.6 percent, resulting to a 1.3 percent decline since the beginning of the year.

INSETE also provided data from the Hellenic Slot Coordination Authority for this year’s season, which showed that airline seats on inbound flights are expected to increase by 13.2 percent in September and October.

Santorini Island.

Citing Trivago data on Greece’s hospitality industry, INSETE noted that the prices of Greek hotels, despite upward trends, moved at competitive levels in most destinations. “An exception is Mykonos and Santorini, which are now established internationally as high-expense destinations and attract their clientele from the highest income classes internationally,” INSETE said.

Greece’s three main markets in August were Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany and the main destinations visited were Athens, Mykonos and Santorini.

The most popular destinations for the domestic market in August were Skiathos, Parga, Chania, Naxos and Skopelos.

The INSETE report added that consumer confidence showed improvement in most of Greece’s source markets, the index showed a decline in seven important markets (Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Turkey).