Sector Ready to Handle Tourists Dropping Turkey for Greece

The Greek tourism sector is rubbing its hands in expectation of the tourists who have dropped neighboring Turkey from their holiday agenda and instead opted for Greek shores.

The Turkish tourism ministry reported a 10 percent drop in year-on-year arrivals last month. More specifically, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute, the country saw a total of 1,240,633 foreign tourists visit in February, a 10.32 percent drop in the number of arrivals compared to the same month last year. January’s figure marked a 6.44 percent decline.

Tourists are avoiding Turkey en masse, with Germans recording a 14.39 percent drop, US tourists decreasing by 9.53 percent, Japan travelers by a massive 58.96 percent and Russian holidaymakers, which was until recently Turkey’s main market, by 51.56 percent. The number of Greek visitors also fell in February by 20.82 percent at 34,176.

In the meantime, the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) is predicting the number of holidaymakers to Greece to rise to a record 25 million this year, boosting tourism revenue by 800 million euros.

SETE President Andreas Andreadis told Bloomberg that he expects some 900,000 Russians to holiday in Greece this year. Mr Andreadis once again reiterated that a successful year in tourism continues to rely on the conclusion of negotiations between Greece and its creditors, the resolution of the refugee crisis and a legislative framework that will effectively tax peer-to-peer services, among others.