Greece Aiming for More Israeli Tourists, Athens Welcoming Record Numbers

Photo source: EL AL

Among the most popular tourism destinations for Israelis, Greece this year is seeing strong growth from the Israeli market, especially in Athens.

“Israel is one of our most important markets as Greece is the third most visited country for Israelis,” said Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) Secretary General Dimitris Fragakis on Wednesday.

Outbound travel demand from Israel to Greece is on the up. According to data from Athens International Airport (AIA), Israel (Tel Aviv) was the top non-EU country in arrivals to Athens during January-August 2023, surpassing the United States (New York), which consistently held the lead.

“We would like to be the first destination of choice for Israeli travelers not only in the summer but also during the winter because Greece is not only sea and sun… It’s an experience that lasts all year round,” Fragakis said while speaking during an event in Athens marking the 75th anniversary of EL AL, Israel’s national carrier.

Fragakis said the GNTO has a very active branch office in Tel Aviv as well as a close cooperation with the Israeli government, the country’s tour operators and airlines.

Referring specifically to EL AL, the GNTO’s secretary general referred to a strategic partnership the organization has with the airline.

“We have a widespread and a really targeted joint advertisement program with El AL, as well as with other companies… It’s really important for us to continue our cooperation in order to promote our 12-month destination strategy for Greece, one of the GNTO’s and the Tourism Ministry’s main priorities,” he said.

Athens Airport sees record growth from Israeli market

Speaking during the event, AIA Director of Communications & Marketing Ioanna Papadopoulou referred to the Israeli market’s record growth at Athens Airport this year, with the number of travelers from the country already exceeding 200,000 for the January-August period, surpassing 20,000 on a weekly basis.

“For the first time in a week we had more than 20,000 passengers from the Israeli market – we broke the record there,” she said, adding that in 2019, 13,000 passengers had traveled between Tel Aviv and Athens in a week, and in 2022, 17,000 passengers.

“For Athens, Israel is the eighth largest international market connected to the city’s airport via direct flights, recording for the January – July period a 68 percent increase compared to 2019 in terms of passenger traffic, which finally exceeded 457 thousand travelers (Greeks and Israelis),” Papadopoulou said.

She added that the Israeli market ranked seventh in terms of foreign tourist arrivals in Athens for the seven-month January – July period, recording the second highest growth rate in passenger traffic and tourist arrivals.

Six-fold increase in passenger traffic from Tel Aviv between 2009-2022

“It is impressive how passenger traffic from the Israeli market to Athens has developed throughout the years… From 2009 onwards – despite crises and disruptions – the Israeli market has grown sixfold to 2022… And it is recording record growth in 2023,” Papadopoulou said.

In 2009, Athens recorded some 97,000 travelers from Israel with the number spiking to 581,000 by 2022.

Source: AIA Passenger Survey

Profile of the Israeli traveler

Regarding the profile of Israelis, a survey by AIA showed that they travel to Greece primarily for vacations (81 percent), while a significant share of trips are made both for business reasons (9 percent) and to visit friends and relatives (9 percent). They stay in Greece for an average of 8 days, travel to and from Athens International Airport twice a year and book their tickets approximately 43 days before the departure date.

Source: AIA Passenger Survey

It should be noted that arrivals from the Israeli market to Greece as a country are higher, as apart from Athens, direct flights are available to Thessaloniki all year round and seasonally to destinations including Chania, Heraklion, Ioannina, Mykonos, Rhodes, Kalamata, Aktio and Corfu.

Last year, Israeli tourists were the top foreign visitors in Thessaloniki.

EL AL: Greece is very popular for Israelis

EL AL, Israel’s national carrier, is also experiencing high growth in the Greek market. The airline is recording a strong performance this year with traffic to Athens during January-August up by 33 percent (120,000 passengers) compared to 2019.

In the first half of 2023 alone, 40,000 passengers were recorded on the Athens – Tel Aviv route, which operates 14 times weekly. During the same period, 12,000 passengers were recorded on the route from Thessaloniki to Tel Aviv, which operates 5 times weekly though EL AL’s subsidiary carrier Sun d’Or.

On his part, Kobi Golan, Assistant Vice President for Global Operations of the airline, focused on the development of EL AL, with Greece at the forefront.

According to Golan, EL AL before the pandemic had carried out 882 flights to Athens, Thessaloniki and the Greek islands, while in 2023 – until today – the airline has already flown 1,056 flights to the country.

He added that in 2018 the company transported 121,000 Israelis to Greece, which grew to 132,000 in 2019. This year, so far, EL AL has transported some 323,000 Israelis to Greece.

“Greece is very popular for Israelis, mostly for vacation but also for business… Israelis feel very much at ‘home away from home’ in Greece and feel really connected to the very similar character of the Greek people,” he said, adding that Greeks mainly travel to Israel for religious tourism and visit Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

EL AL first began flights to Greece in 1959. The company has a network of 44 destinations and 400 connecting destinations around the world that are served through 85 interline and codeshare agreements.

TAL Aviation Hellas is the General Sales Agent (GSA) of EL AL in Greece.