Northern Greece Expecting Strong Tourist Flows in Upcoming Period

Northern Greece, which includes its capital Thessaloniki, is set to see a rise in tourist arrivals, according to forecasts by Halkidiki Hotel Association President Grigoris Tasios.

Prebookings for Greece in the British market are up by 18 percent for the upcoming holiday period, he said. At the same time, Northern Greece is expecting more arrivals from neighboring Balkan countries, increased flows via road, and more cruise ship port calls up from 63 to 76.

Tasios presented the data during “The Possibilities of Enhancing Tourist Flows in Northern Greece” event organized by the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Archive photo of Grigoris Tasios.

Addressing the event, Tasios said road tourism was a high priority for Northern Greece as it generated more tourism revenues. Citing INSETE data, Tasios said 8,988,546 tourists arrived by road in the January-September period. Up from 6,626,247 for all of 2022 and compared to 10,254,240 in pre-Covid 2019.

Key source markets supporting road tourism to Greece, include Romania, Turkey, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bulgarian and Albanian.

At the same time, Thessaloniki and Kavala airports have handled nearly 2 million arrivals in the nine months to September this year, very close to the 2019 annual figure.

Meanwhile, in relevant news, Thessaloniki tourism stakeholders are expecting transport upgrade projects, including a flyover that will ease traffic in the city center, the metro and the port-train station-national highway link to boost arrivals. There are concerns however about serious disruption to businesses during the construction period.