By Michalis Matsigkos

 

The first signs from 2023 justify the optimistic expectations that Greek tourism will break new records this year.

 

Passenger traffic in the Athens International Airport showed a spectacular increase in April, totaling 2,136,956, up 26.8% compared with the same month last year and up 7.6% from April 2019.

 

Both the domestic and international passenger traffic surpassed 2022 levels by 20.5% and 29.8%, respectively. In comparison with 2019, domestic and international passenger traffic were up 15.3% and 4.4%, respectively.

 

In the January-April period, passenger traffic totaled 6.6 million, up 47.5% from the corresponding period in 2022 and up 4% from 2019.

 

Domestic and international traffic was up 33.8% and 54.7% from 2022 levels, respectively, and up 5.2% and 3.4%, respectively from 2019 levels.

 

The number of scheduled flights totaled 59,357 in the first four months of 2023, up 19.3% from 2022 and 2.9% from 2019. Domestic flights were up 11.6% and 6.5% from 2022 and 2019 respectively, while international flights were up 25.8% and 0.3%, respectively.

 

According to the data of the Civil Aviation Service (CAA), during the first quarter of 2023, a total of 6,877,069 international and domestic passengers passed through the country's airports. This figure represents a 52.8% increase compared to the same period in 2022 and a 2.9% increase compared to the first quarter of 2019.

 

In a recent article in Naftemporiki, Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias said that “for 2023 the data available to us so far makes us optimistic that we will do even better and that the target of increasing tourism revenue by at least 10% compared to 2022 is entirely achievable”.

 

“In recent years, the Ministry of Tourism has ‘transformed’ into an economic, development and investment portfolio, which is the ‘steam engine’ of the development of the Greek economy,” he wrote.

 

According to Tourism Minister, 2022 was a truly exceptional year for Greek tourism, as travel revenues surpassed the Finance Ministry's initial forecast of 15 billion by 2.6 billion euros, reaching 17.6 billion.

 

“Another important element to us, as it shows the clear increase of travelers and tourists in our country, is that during the first two months of 2023 the turnovers in accommodation and catering increased by 27.03% and 20.39% respectively compared to the first two months of 2022,” he added.

 

Tourism Minister noted that, from the data available, this year's season started from the beginning of May, which demonstrates that the goal of extending the tourist season has been achieved. “Now, our goal is the 12-month tourism season, not only for destinations with a strong brand, but also for alternative options for travelers and tourists,” he said.