Russian tourists flow in Greece dropped a little

Russian tourist flow to Greece this year continues to decline. So, in May, in Heraklion arrived 21% less the Russians than a year earlier – only 32 thousand people. This information was provided by the official statistics of the airport. 

Observers connect this fact with a reduction in the flight program of tour operators: apparently, market participants took into account the mistakes of the last season, when an oversupply of charters provoked a forced decline in prices for tours. “This year, all the players approached to the organization of the flight program to Crete with a more balance: some reduced the volume of transportation, others left at the last year’s level, and only a few operators increased the program. In general, as far as I know, the number of slots of Russian airlines in Heraklion has decreased by 12%. However, for us, Greece is one of the priorities, so this year we have increased the number of seats by 10% compared to the past year,” said Dimitris Haritidis, the head of the Greek department of TEZ TOUR operator. 

The General Director of Mouzenidis Travel, Alexander Tsandekidi, told his version of a small decrease in the number of flights. In his opinion, a number of companies for which Turkey has always been a priority, last year increased their activity in Greece. And in this year they again redistributed the transportation capabilities in favor of Turkish resorts. “According to our sales, I do not observe a drop in demand. On the contrary - there is a small increase. I think, by the end of the year we will have a plus result, but it’s still difficult to name the real figures,” he noted. 

The CEO of Ambotis Moscow Vitaly Stamatov supports a colleague “It’s too early to draw conclusions about the season. The main program started in June, and only after a month will we get more or less objective data.”