German Media Commend Greece for Tourism ‘Blessing’

Greece’s “success” in winning over travelers this summer and fall featured in the German press this week, which described the country as a tourism “winner”.

Besides managing to achieve strong incoming tourist flows during the Covid-19 pandemic, Greece is also successfully extending its tourism season, the reports said, with German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung adding that the Greek islands are the big winners as a result.

Referring to occupancy figures for September – on average at 63 percent – and bookings into October, Berliner Morgenpost speaks of an unprecedented “tourism miracle”.

Berliner Morgenpost also focused on the resilience of Crete, where “bookings exceeded pre-Covid crisis levels”, and goes on to note that tour operators and airlines are also extending their services into November to meet the high demand. 

Photo source: South Aegean Tourism Initiative

Süddeutsche Zeitung describes Greece as “small Balkan country”, which despite being “tested in thousands of battles, always somehow manages to emerge victorious from any crisis… national bankruptcies, financial crises, and now a tourism crisis”. And yet, the paper said, Greece is welcoming tourists in the midst of the pandemic and together with Spain, is the most sought-after tourist destination in Europe this summer.

According to articles about Greece in the German press, the year has been “unanticipated”, giving restaurateurs and hotel owners the chance to recover losses incurred as a result of Covid-19 and travelers a wide range of options.

To demonstrate the extent of the country’s achievement, reports also noted that though the percentage of cross-border flights in Europe in July and August did not exceed 40 percent of 2019 levels, flights to Greece reached 86 percent of pre-Covid levels with prime examples Mykonos and Santorini, where visitor numbers exceeded those of 2019.

Germany is one of Greece’s key source markets.