Lacking European tourists, Greek hoteliers are trying to support the season by stimulating sales of tours in Russia. According to the Greek Tourist Confederation (SETE), in the 2019 season the number of seats on international flights to regional airports of the leading resorts decreased by 7% compared to last season. Moreover, soon the volume of transportation from Germany will decrease by 8%, from France - by 5%. From the UK, the number of seats will increase by only 1%.
According to the SETE study, the inbound tourist flow of Greece is affected by the recovery of tourism in Turkey and North Africa, unprecedented warm weather throughout Europe (which has reduced the Europeans' need to travel abroad), economic stagnation on key European markets, and the termination of Boeing 737-Max flights.
Following the results of Russian tour operators, the sales of the Greek product on the domestic market are slightly better than the sales of European colleagues. So, according to representatives of Mouzenidis Travel, currently the tour operator has hosted by 20% more tourists from the Russian Federation in Greece than a year earlier.
As the experts of Intourist tour operator report, if at the stage of early booking the sales growth on the Greek destination was estimated at the level of 25%, then, as the peak of the summer season approached, the demand stabilized. At the moment, sales of the Greek product show a 10% increase over the same period last year.
According to Coral Travel tour operator, this year sales of tours to Greece increased by 8% in annual terms.
The press service of TUI Russia operator also reported about 10% growth in sales of the destination, noting that in comparison with the 2018 season, the share of tours on regular flights rose up to 5%. The data of Russian Express tour operator say that the Greek product is in demand in regular transportation segment. The company informed about 15% growth in sales on the destination.
According to tour operators, in the 2019 season the most popular Greek destination is Crete (up to half of all bookings). Top 5 also includes Rhodes, Corfu, Halkidiki and Kos.
As for the preferences of tourists, the average duration of a trip to Greece is 10-11 days. In the top demand are hotels on AI and HB basis.
According to the experts of ANEX Tour, this season the hotels of category 5* are booked much better than in the past, but the significant share of bookings is for hotels 3-4*.
