Greece Welcomes Rising Number of Dutch Travelers

The number of Dutch travelers choosing Greece for their holidays is steadily rising as reflected by a 5 percent increase in pre-bookings for package travel with stronger preference for the Halkidiki peninsula.

According to data collected by the Halkidiki Tourism Organization (HTO) at this year’s Vakantiebeurs 2020 held in Utrecht, and from the Salon des Vacances 2020 in Brussels, Halkidiki is among the top five destinations of choice for the Dutch as demonstrated by an 8 percent increase year on year in the number of arrivals.

The positive performance is driven in large part by the direct flights available from Amsterdam to Macedonia Airport in Thessaloniki, run by Transavia and Ryanair.

According to Dutch tour operators Sunweb και TUI, pre-bookings in December increased by 10 percent against the previous year and the number for January grew by 3-5 percent.

In the meantime, reflecting the growing demand, one more Dutch travel agency SNP Natuurreizen, added the Halkidiki region for the first time in its program noting that packages for 2020 are almost sold out.

At the same time, according to feedback collected at the expos, Halkidiki is winning over the camping crowd.

Aiming to attract more visitors from Belgium, the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) will soon be launching a televised campaign. At the same time, flights carried out by Aegean Airlines and Transavia as of April 2 will connect Thessaloniki with Brussels with flights two-three times weekly.

The HTO and the GNTO will be hosting a fam trip in May in Halkidiki promoting the “100 Experiences in Greece” campaign.