Greece Pushes Ahead with Strong Tourism Plan for 2022

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Looking to cover lost ground after two years of Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns, Greece is putting into action a dynamic plan that will bring more tourists to the country in 2022, Tourism Minister Vasilis Kikilias said during recent interviews to Greek media.

The minister referred to three basic actions aimed at extending the tourism season and increasing the number of arrivals from traditional and new source markets.

Increasing the number of seats and adding new destinations from France through deals with Transavia and Air France, bringing in more flights from the UK, and boosting flights to Greek destinations from the US are among the first actions taken ahead of the 2022 season, which is slated to open earlier this year in April.

Kikilias highlighted Greece’s performance so far this year which is improved compared to 2020.

“We have a 371 percent increase in tourism revenue generated from US travelers, 207 percent from French visitors, and 115 percent from Germany,” he said.

Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias speaking on SKAI TV on October 23.

The minister underlined the importance of a strong sector recovery which will support Greek families and local communities, and said he has called on tourism professionals to be ready by March.

“In tourism, tomorrow is prepared today,” he said.

“Demand, tickets and reservations are starting in March for Greece,” he said adding that Transavia and Air France are doubling their flights to Greece; Jet2, TUI, British Airways, and EasyJet are boosting seats, and US airlines are launching 12 flights (from 9 in 2021) in March.

Lastly, Kikilias said he would be accompanying Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on his trip to Russia where they will finalize a bilateral agreement on tourism.

“Extending the tourist season is one of the main priorities…  both reasonable and feasible,” he said.