By Alexia Sotiriou

 

Greece is among the first preferences of the major European markets in terms of tourist destination, despite the fact that most Europeans have stated that they prefer short trips of up to 3 hours.

 

This is the main conclusion of the new study of the Greek Tourism Confederation.

 

The markets under consideration are those of Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Spain.

 

Moreover, holiday planning abroad seems to start early with around 70% of German, British and Spanish tourists and 60% of French tourists having already started planning their trips over the next 12 months.

 

It is recalled that the top-3 markets for Greece in 2023 were Germany, the United Kingdom and France.

 

In terms of countries that Europeans are considering visiting in the next 12 months, Greece is in 5th place for the markets of Germany, France and the United Kingdom and 7th for the market of Spain.

 

However, the difference between Greece and the countries leading by one or two places is very small (1 percentage point or less) and these countries are either much larger (e.g. France or the United Kingdom) or much more easily accessible even by road (eg Austria from Germany).

 

As for spending, most of them intend to spend what they usually spend, followed by those willing to spend more.

 

More specifically, 50% of Germans, 47% of French, 51% of UK residents and 44% of Spaniards plan to spend the same amounts, while 31% of Germans, 29% of French, 29% of UK residents and 36% of Spaniards plan to spend more. Tourism: Return to pre-pandemic levels

 

The number of tourists who visited Greece in 2023 amounted to 30.08 million, raising tourism revenues to 20.6 billion euros

 

2024 will be the year of a complete return of global tourism and air transport to pre-pandemic levels, the president of the federation of travel agencies in Greece Fedhatta, Lysandros Tsilidis, noted. At the same time, Greece acquired a stable base of tourist flows reaching 30 million arrivals, affecting business planning and the wider tourism strategy of the country, the vice-president of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, Christina Tetradis, stated.

 

Greece now has a very competitive tourism product, linked to the safety factor, while at the same time it can turn its attention to other forms of tourism in order to mitigate the consequences of seasonality and achieve a greater diffusion of tourism income in all its regions, Tetradis stated to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

 

"This year bookings seem to be higher compared to 2023, but the time of increased demand is not a time for complacency, but a time for strategic planning. This is the only way we can continue to rely on our industry for the future," the president of Hellenic Hoteliers Federation Yiannis Hatzis said in his recent intervention.