Greece January-August Tourist Arrivals Pave Way for Great Year

Tourists outside the Acropolis Museum in Athens. Photo source: Visit Greece

Greece welcomed more than 25 million travelers from January to August with the strong flows expected to continue through to the end of the year.

According to the latest data released by INSETE, the Greek Tourism Confederation’s (SETE) research body, arrivals by air in the eight months to August were up by 12.4 percent over 2022 and by 5 percent in August.

Arrivals via road increased by 35.8 percent from January to August and by 22.7 percent in August.

Source: INSETE.

Indicative of the trend, Greece’s largest airport, Athens International, handled 4.8 million international arrivals in the January-August period up by 32.4 percent or 1.2 million. Thessaloniki airport followed with 1.6 million arrivals marking a 21.4 percent rise.

The airports of Crete and the Ionian islands, which include popular destinations like Zakynthos and Corfu, reported a 5.8 percent and 7.4 percent rise, respectively. Crete airports handled 3.7 million passengers in the same period and the Ionian island airports 2.8 million international arrivals. International tourist flows by air to the Dodecanese isles also increased by 2.9 percent over 2022 to 2.9 million.

Source: INSETE.

On the downside, a 6.8 percent decline in international air arrivals was reported on the Cyclades islands in the eight-month period under review to 1 million compared to the same period in 2022. Arrivals to the Peloponnese also dropped by 5.2 percent to 146,000 in the same period.

From January to August, 7.7 million travelers arrived in Greece via road marking a 35.8 percent rise over 2022 and 5.7 million arrivals.