Greece in Top 5 Fastest-growing Destinations for Travelers in Italy, Says Travelport

Greece is fifth among ten countries that have seen the greatest growth in flight bookings from travelers in Italy in the last 12 months, according to analysis conducted by Travelport, a leading travel commerce platform.

According to the data, from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018, bookings made in Italy through all global distribution systems (GDS) to Greece increased by 15,516, up 13 percent on the previous 12 months.

GDS’s are vast hi-tech reservation networks that allow travel agents, travel management companies and large corporations, among others, to search and book airline seats, hotel rooms, rental cars, and other travel related items. Globally in 2017, Travelport alone processed 1 trillion transactions through its platform.

Before Greece, the fastest-growing destinations for travelers in Italy booked through all GDS are the United States of America (USA), China, Turkey and India.

Bookings made in Italy through all GDS to the USA increased by close to 30,000, up 5 percent on the previous 12 months. Bookings to China from Italy over the period rose by 26,366, up 9 percent; to Turkey by 18,098, up a significant 27 percent; and to India by 16,020, up 11 percent.

“It’s interesting to see that flight bookings to the USA and China, two of Italy’s top trading partners outside of Europe, have grown so significantly over the past year,” said Sandro Gargiulo, Travelport’s Country Manager for Italy and Malta.

Referring to Turkey, Gargiulo said that the growth from Italy to Turkey has been helped by the increasing number of short, affordable and direct flights to the country.

“Travelport has invested significantly in developing cutting-edge analytics products for travel agents and airlines because we recognize the impact they can have on their revenue,” Gargiulo said.

“Even relatively straight forward booking analysis, like we have done here, can help travel agents evolve the packages they offer in line with traveler demand and support airlines in identifying needs to increase or decrease flight capacity on certain routes.”

Later this week, Travelport will hold its exclusive Travelport LIVE Europe event in Rome. The event will bring together over 200 business leaders from across the region to discuss the challenges and opportunities disruptive technologies, like big data, pose to the travel industry in Europe.