Heraklion and Athens are ‘Standout Performers in 2017’, Report Says

Greek destinations Heraklion on Crete and Athens are “standout performers in 2017”, according to research released on Tuesday during the World Travel Market (WTM) London.

According to the Top 100 City Destination Ranking WTM London Edition, by Euromonitor International, the Cretan city of Heraklion is forecast to be the strongest performing city in Europe in 2017, closely followed in second place by the Greek capital Athens.

Heraklion, which is ranked 66th place on the list, will see visitor arrivals rise by more than 11 percent this year, to more than three million, while Athens (47th) will see arrivals increase by 10 percent, to almost 10 million. Also in Greece, Rhodes (97th) is forecast to see arrivals rise by almost 8 percent to 2.3 million.

According to the report, tourism to Greece has performed strongly this year, thanks to a shift away from less stable destinations.

“A familiar picture is forming, where the substitution effect means that cities in relatively quiet and stable countries are profiting from unrest in other countries… Spain, Greece and Italy are performing strongly, as they offer a similar climate to affected countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia,” the report says.

Greece expects a record-breaking 30 million international visitors in 2017 – up 7 percent year-on-year.

For the last two years, Greece’s growth has been nearly twice the global industry average of 3.9 percent.

The World Travel & Tourism Council estimates that tourism in 2017 will help boost the Greek economy by 6.9 percent – supporting nearly one million jobs and representing 20 percent of the country’s GDP.

The Greek Travel Pages (GTP) is an official media partner of WTM London 2017.