Study: Greece’s Popularity as Wine Tourism Destination on the Up

Greece is increasingly becoming a popular destination for wine tourism, according to a recent study conducted by Tourix, a Greek digital tourism marketing company.

The research, based on Google user searches, showed that the total number of searches for wine tours and wine tasting in Greece increased by 41 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year. Additionally, there was a 42 percent increase in searches for the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

The most searched regions for wine tours and wine tasting in Greece for 2023 are (in order of number of searches) Santorini, Crete, Athens, and Nemea, the study found.

The main destinations that travelers are searching for Wine Tours/Wine Tasting experiences in Greece in 2023.

General searches for wine tours in Greece topped the list at 31.8 percent, followed by searches for wine tours in Santorini at 29.9 percent. Crete came in third with 10.2 percent of searches, followed by Athens with 9.8 percent and Nemea with 7 percent.

The research also showed a notable trend in user interest by year.

Between May and November, an increased interest in wine tours and wine tasting in Greece was recorded, with the summer months of July and August seeing the highest volume of searches within the year.

Another interesting finding from the study is that 40 percent of travelers search for and purchase experiences in a destination after arrival. In the case of Greece, 22 percent of searches for wine tours came from people who were already in the country.

“The recognition and popularity that Greek wines are gaining abroad are pushing visitors, wine lovers, to want to visit wineries in Greece and taste quality wines from Greek varieties,” said Adriana Foi from The Wine Connoisseurs.

Photo source: Wines of Greece.

Foi added that the majority of wine tourists are between 35-44 years old, university-educated, and have medium to high income, with an almost equal gender distribution.

She went on to note that there is also a growing demand for company and corporate events that are organized thematically around wine, wineries, and vineyards in Greece.