German tourist demand for Greece is going strong, according to holiday package sales which were up by 22 percent this year compared to pre-pandemic 2019, said the German Travel Association (DRV) recently.
More specifically, according to a DRV survey, holiday demand for the summer was high for Mediterranean destinations in the fall.
A closer look reveals that Greece followed Turkey as a top destination for German travelers in 2022. Package holiday deals to Turkey were up by 33 percent, by 22 percent to Greece and by 8 percent to Egypt.
Marking declines this year over 2019 were Western Mediterranean destinations apart from the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands which were up in demand by 3 percent.
Germans spend more in 2022
At the same time, according to the survey findings, German travelers spent more on their holidays this year compared to 2019 with expenditure per person per night up by 15 percent. Cruise bookings were also up over the summer gradually approaching 2019 levels.
In terms of long-haul travel, Caribbean and Indian Ocean destinations were in the lead with the Dominican Republic marking a 41 percent increase and the Maldives up by 37 percent over the summer of 2019.
“This shows that Germans wanted to travel again after a long period of deprivation during the pandemic and also made this wish happen sometimes at very short notice,” said DRV President Norbert Fiebig. He went on to add however that “the travel industry is on course for recovery, but by no means out of the woods”.
The DRV goes on to note that for the autumn holiday season which kicked off in October, there is continued high demand for travel. The trend towards short-term bookings also remains.
