Industry Reports & Trends

The Hellenic Hotel Federation (POX) recently completed and submitted to the Greek National Tourism Organization, a study for the construction of boutique hotels. The study consists of prerequisites for the infrastructure and services of boutique hotels as defined by international standards but with Greek characteristics in mind.

The International Air Transport Association reported that the results of its 2007 corporate air travel survey showed that passengers overwhelmingly saw value in new technologies to simplify the travel process. Some 10,000 travelers participated in the survey, which revealed that not only are passengers accepting high-tech travel options, but also demand even more opportunities to take control of their travel experience.

The Internet offers a plethora of travel sites, notably Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz and Priceline. Travelers can plan and book a trip in a matter of minutes, and travel planning over the web has consequently had an impact on travel agencies.

The Official Airline Guide (OAG) recently announced the route Barcelona-Madrid to be the most frequent route with 971 flights weekly. The route Sao Paolo Congonhas-Rio de Janeiro with 894 weekly flights came runner up, and then Jeju-Seoul Gimpo with 858 flights and Melbourne-Sydney a close contender with 851 weekly flights closely follows this.

According to a recent survey conducted for the U.S. Tour Operators Association, the more affluent a traveler is the more likely it is they will return to a favored destination. Despite preconceived notions that affluence predisposes travel to a variety of exotic and unique destinations, this recent survey indicates that one-third of travelers with household income higher than 70,000 euros opted to revisit favorite vacation destinations and according to U.S Tour Operator Association President, Bob Whitey: “That is the largest group giving this response in any income category.” Thirty percent of households earning 35,000 to 69,000 thousand euros also preferred to revisit favorite destinations but this number dropped to less than 20 percent for those in the 25,000 euros and less income bracket.

Recent research conducted by travel industry experts has shown the most recent trends in travel and indicated the path that tourism needs to follow in order to keep up with the rapid changes.

Research done by European Cruise Contribution in Brussels recently showed increasing trends in the cruise line sector throughout Europe. Primarily, the research indicates there is an increase in orders for new cruise ships with the subsequent result being the creation of new employment opportunities and tourism in Europe.

Greece, and particularly the Greek islands, appears to be the number one choice of vacation for Greek Cypriots.

The Athens Hoteliers Association recently shared statistics collected from monthly reports on hotel occupancy in Athens and the Attica region. In the months of May and June an increase in traffic has been noted of approximately six percent.

The mass exodus of passengers in anticipation of the August fifteenth national holiday celebration reached its peak in early August as ferries departed from the ports of Piraeus and Lavrio at one hundred percent capacity.