Greece is a Leading Vacation Choice Among 10 Source Markets, says Report

A study released recently by INSETE, the research body of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), found that Greece is a leading outbound holiday destination choice in most of its main source markets.

More specifically, according to the “Market Outlook: Travel Behavior and Economic Conditions in Major Inbound Tourism Markets” report which analyses GWI consumer data, Greece is among the Top 10 outbound destinations for the following markets: Cyprus (1st), UK (2^nd), France, Israel and Serbia (3^rd).

The report was carried out in June in Greece’s 13 main markets – Germany, UK, France, US, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland, Israel and Sweden – which accounted for 76.5 percent of all inbound tourism receipts last year.

Greece also ranks high in Romania, Italy and Poland (4th), Austria (5th), Germany, Switzerland, Belgium (6th) and in the Netherlands and Sweden (8th).

With regard to Mediterranean destinations, Greece is in the Top 5 choices in all markets under review.

Photo source: WTTC

Indicatively, Greece moved up one spot as a top destination among travelers from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Sweden, two spots for travelers from Belgium, three spots for travelers from the US and Israel, four spots for travelers from the UK and Poland, and five spots for travelers from France compared to pre-Covid 2019.

According to the findings, consumers are keen on traveling domestically or internationally with the highest interest in traveling reported in Switzerland (62 percent), Italy (61 percent), Austria (59 percent), Belgium (57 percent), Sweden (56 percent), Romania (53 percent), Poland (52 percent), the United Kingdom (52 percent), Germany (51 percent) and Israel (51 percent).

Factors affecting decision to travel include value for money and weather conditions, followed by relaxation, cultural experiences, special prices/offers, life experiences, ease of travel (eg direct flights), distance of travel, quality facilities for children/family, chance to visit friends/relatives, recommendations from friends/relatives, outdoor adventure activities, online reviews and familiarity with the destination.

In terms of types of holidays, more than half of those polled (53 to 67 percent depending on country) preferred sea and sun (beach/resort), followed by road trips, staycations, adventure holidays, spa travel, theme park vacation, cruise and winter sports tourism.

Countries with the highest percentage of travelers interested in sea & sun holidays were Italy (67 percent), Sweden (67 percent), Switzerland (66 percent), Austria (64 percent), Germany ( 64 percent), the UK (64 percent), the US (62 percent), Romania (62 percent) and Israel (61 percent).

While road travel was the main preference for travelers from the US (53 percent), Romania (48 percent), Switzerland (42 percent), the Netherlands (42 percent) and Poland (41 percent).

The majority of those polled said they booked their holidays through Booking.com (24-36 percent in European markets), Trivago (9 percent-17 percent), TripAdvisor (7 percent-25  percent), Airbnb (7 percent-20 percent) and Expedia, Skyscanner and Hotels.com.