Tourist Flows Still Strong in September for Greece

Ouranoupli,Halkidiki, Photo Source: Halkidiki Tourism Organization

Summer is still on in Greece this September with hotels fully booked, flights on the rise and cruise travel marking its best month of the year this far.

Crete, Rhodes and Halkidiki are at the top of travelers’ preferences with occupancy levels for September and October reaching 90 percent. German, British, Russian, French and Dutch tourists are opting to travel in the fall.

Meanwhile, the number of flights at regional airports came to 2.7 million in September compared to 2.39 million last year. For October, airlines have scheduled some 1.47 million seats against 1.24 million in the same month last year. In total through to December 2017, carriers have booked an additional 1.5 million seats to Greece compared to 2016. Tourist professionals are expecting 2017 to be the best year in terms of flights with the tourism ministry expecting 30 million visitors and revenue at 14.5 billion euros.

Rhodes Island

Occupancy levels in Halkidiki, northern Greece, are at 85 percent for September and at 75 percent for October booked by holidaymakers from Germany, UK, Belgium, Holland and Russia.

Rhodes, meanwhile, has also seen a rise in the number of bookings for fall with hotel occupancy rates at 90 percent in September and 75 percent in October. Indicatively, TUI has introduced nine additional flights on TUI Fly adding 1,800 new seats and extending its Rhodes program to November 10.

September appears to be a good month for cruise travel with CLIA Europe chairman and Celestyal Cruises CEO Kyriakos Anastassiadis noting that Celestyal liners are setting off from Greek ports fully booked in September, making it the best month for the sector this far.