The summer demand of the resorts of mainland Greece has grown

The tour operators note this year's growth in demand for the resorts of mainland Greece from 10 to 25%. Greece remains one of the most popular vacation destinations for Russians. According to the forecasts of the Greek National Tourism Organization, in 2018 about one million Russians will visit Greece. At present time the dynamics of Russian arrivals are positive: according to Greek airports, over 63 thousand of Russians arrived to Greece during the first 4 months of 2018, which exceeded the figures for the same period of 2017 by 42%. A number of leading tour operators of Greek direction (Coral Travel, PEGAS Toiristik, Biblio-Globus, ANEX Tour) have organized charter programs to island resorts (Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, etc.). However, taking into account the growth of interest for the mainland resorts of Greece, tour operators are beginning to offer more and more package tours there on the basis of regular flights. So, the press service of ANEX Tour reported that in the near future there will be tours on regular flights to Athens in the range of the company. Mostly on the mainland the tour operators offer holidays on the peninsula of Chalkidiki and the Pieria region (Thessaloniki airport), Alexandroupoli and Kavala resort towns (airport Kavala), the Peloponnese peninsula with flights to Araxos airport and Athens Riviera (arriving in Athens). As Evgeny Kiselev, the Senior Manager of sales department of “Muzenidis Travel – Greece” explains - the most popular destinations from this list are Halkidiki and Pieria. According to the expert, the demand among Russian tourists for these resorts is historically stable due to a number of unique advantages, including a more extensive and diverse excursion program and the opportunity to visit the main attractions of the country. At the same time, Muzenidis Travel notes a two fold increase of demand for resorts near Athens – these are Evia, the Athenian Riviera and Loutraki. A significant increase of interest to the resorts of the Athenian Riviera this summer is confirmed by PAX tour operator. According to the data of the company the demand for mainland Greece in this season has grown by about 25% in comparison with the last year.