Greece has seen a 1.3 per cent increase in year-on-year arrivals from all overseas markets between January and August 2016, provisional data released by the Bank of Greece reports. In the first eight months of 2016 Greece welcomed a record number of overseas visitors totalling approximately 17.2 million compared to almost 17 million in the same period last year without including cruise passenger visitors.

According to the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), the number of cruise passengers in Greece between January and August 2016 was approximately 723,310 registering a 17.42 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2015.

In the year to August, Greece also saw a 7.7 per cent increase of arrivals from the UK, welcoming approximately 1.9 million UK visitors compared to 1.8 million in the same period last year, and a staggering 14 per cent increase in August alone.

During the same period, arrivals from Germany and Russia grew by 10.6 and 12.4 per cent respectively (two million and 395,000 visitors each), while visits from the US also increased by more than five per cent reaching 550,000 visitors.

Christina Kalogera, Director of the Greek National Tourism Organisation UK & Ireland Office said: “2016 has seen the third consecutive year of growth in tourism to Greece from the UK. Financial and political stability have contributed to this growth, but continuing investment in the tourism product has resulted in a dynamic choice for discerning visitors.”

Flights

Based on figures supplied by Greece's Civil Aviation Authority, international flight arrivals to Greece grew by almost seven per cent between January and August 2016, while provisional data for September also report an increase of arrivals by approximately eight per cent. In the year to September 2016, Kalamata, Aktio, Corfu, Santorini and Heraklion airports experienced some of the biggest increases in arrivals by approximately 23, 18, 13, 13 and 12 per cent respectively, while Athens airport saw a significant increase of arrivals by almost eight per cent. Athens International Airport also reported a strong 14.3 per cent increase in arrivals in September alone.

GfK Leisure Travel Monitor – four per cent increase in UK bookings to Greece

The 'Leisure Travel Monitor' produced by the British arm of German-based analyst GfK measures outbound UK bookings through the whole of the travel agent shop market and through a defined read of direct bookings and has revealed a four per cent increase in UK holiday bookings to Greece in the year to September 2016 compared to 2015 while Greece's islands experienced an increase in bookings of seven per cent overall.

Meanwhile, according to the analyst, bookings taken in September 2016 were up 13 per cent for Greece as a whole and 18 per cent for the Greek islands.

Crete, which is the most popular destination in Greece for British travellers in 2016 and had 19.4% of the market share according to GFK, saw a 13 per cent increase in passenger numbers, while Rhodes, which has a 17.9% share of the market, saw a 12 per cent growth in UK passenger numbers.

Moreover, Zante with a 16.7% of the market share saw a six per cent increase, while Corfu, which has a 15 per cent share of the market, saw an 8 per cent growth in UK passenger numbers.

Peak booking months for 2016

GfK's data reveals that for the holiday year of 2016, in the year to September 2016, the highest booking month for holidays to Greece was in January, which took more than 14 per cent of total bookings for the year. After January, February delivers the highest number of bookings for Greece in 2016 with 9.1 per cent, followed by May and July both with nine per cent and April at 8.9 per cent.

Shoulder season boost

February, March, April and October all saw a significant growth in passenger numbers. While 59 per cent of the holidays for Greece in 2016 were taken in the peak third quarter of July, August and September, Greece's work on increasing passenger numbers in the shoulder seasons is continuing to gain momentum with holidays in March 2016 experiencing the biggest increase in passenger numbers up 114 per cent. February saw a 13 per cent increase and April saw a 34 per cent growth. May and June have 33 per cent of the market share and experienced a one and two per cent rise respectively. October saw a 21 per cent growth.

Accommodation-only and package holiday growth

Holiday packages to Greece - which make up for 90.8 per cent of the bookings were up six per cent compared to 2015. Furthermore, in the year to September 2016, all-inclusive, which is 37.5 per cent of the market saw a 14 per cent growth and half board bookings were up 18 per cent.

Bookings for 2017

Early indications of bookings for 2017 – up until September 2016 – reveal a year-on-year increase of 23 per cent, with packages also up 23 per cent, all-inclusive up 28 per cent and self-catering up 19 per cent.

November 2016

Ends

For further press information, please contact: Frances Tuke, Lotus: 020 7953 7470, frances@wearelotus.co.uk, or Panos Papadopoulos, Greek National Tourism Organisation, GNTO UK & Ireland Office: 020 7495 9311, pr@gnto.co.uk

Notes for Editors:

GfK is one of the world's largest research companies, with around 13,000 experts working to discover new insights into the way people live, think, shop and book holidays in more than 100 countries every day. We offer the most comprehensive and accurate picture of the UK outbound holiday market offering insight into where, when, what and how consumers book.

The Leisure Travel Monitor is the leading service in the UK of its kind, covering the whole of the retail travel agent environment and a defined direct market. The service includes in excess of 15 million passenger bookings per annum and is unique in reporting holiday bookings yet to travel. Data in the report covers bookings up until the 30th of September for departures in 2016 and 2017).”

*The GfK Leisure Travel Monitor measures outbound UK bookings through the whole of the travel agent shop market and through a defined read of direct bookings.