Rhodes, Kos Popular Vacation Spots for Brits and Germans

Lindos, Rhodes island. Photo source: @Aegean Islands

Travelers from the UK and Germany are choosing Rhodes and Kos to holiday this year as islands in the South Aegean Region see arrival figures reaching new highs this month.

According to the South Aegean Tourism Initiative (SATI), the region’s island gateways welcomed over one million tourist arrivals from March 27 to June 12, based in data received from the airports of Rhodes, Kos, Santorini, Mykonos and Karpathos.

More specifically, according to SATI data, islands in the South Aegean Region welcomed 1,118,797 passengers on a total of 7,008 flights with half (583,042) landing in Rhodes, 260,660 in Kos, 167,110 in Santorini, 94,800 in Mykonos and 13,185 in Karpathos.

Kos island. Photo source: Visit Greece / Y. Skoulas

Regional authorities said May figures outdid pre- pandemic 2019 figures for the same month by 4.5 percent with Santorini and Rhodes recording the highest increases by 35 percent and 4.6 percent respectively.

Overall through to May 31, tourist figures are up by 6.6 percent compared to pre-Covid 2019.

Looking at June numbers, Rhodes welcomed 118 flights and 18,513 passengers in a single day (June 12).

According to SATI data, regional airports welcomed a total of 340,679 international arrivals on 2,135 flights in the first 12 days of June.

In addition to the UK and Germany, key source markets for the South Aegean Region based on the latest data by the SATI are Sweden, the Netherlands, France and Italy.

Established in 2021 on the initiative of South Aegean Region Governor George Hatzimarkos, the South Aegean Tourism Initiative is made up of tourism, trade and hotel stakeholders and their relevant associations and chambers.