Greece Sees Fastest Growth in Arrivals from Canada in Jan-Sept 2018

Athens, Greece. Photo source: Visit Greece / Y.Skoulas

Greece led the way in welcoming the fastest growth in arrivals of Canadian travelers during the first nine months of 2018, according to the European Travel Commission (ETC).

In its latest report, “European Tourism – Trends & Prospects (Q4/2018)”, the ETC said that Greece topped a list of 21 countries that showed an increase in arrivals from Canada last year.

According to the data, fastest growth of Canadian travelers was seen in Greece by 76 percent, followed by Cyprus (+65 percent), Slovenia (+43 percent), Turkey (+35 percent) and Montenegro (+32 percent).

Source: ETC

“Greece has made promoting tourism within Canada a priority and data from the Bank of Greece suggests that in the first nine months of 2018 receipts from Canadian tourists were up 94.2 percent, or more than 300 million euros. Growth in visits to Greece looks set to continue given Canadian interest in Greek food programs and opportunities for increased film productions,” the ETC noted.

Greece reports growth overall

In general, the ETC’s report showed that Greece was among the destinations last year that registered some form of expansion in travel and tourism.

In the report the ETC presented data on 33 countries that showed that European tourism demand remains on solid footing with a 6 percent upswing in international tourist arrivals in 2018 over the year prior.

Greece was found to be among 32 countries that reported growth in tourism.

On Greece, the ETC reported that the country saw a 9.3 percent increase in international arrivals during the January-September 2018 period and a 4.9 percent rise in international overnights during last year’s January-June period.

Greece was reported to be among the destinations that received travel growth from various source markets, with significant increase noted from Germany by 25.1 percent and Italy, where arrivals were up by 15.7 percent. Greece also saw an increase in arrivals from The Netherlands and France.

Regarding long haul source markets, besides Greece welcoming the fastest growth in arrivals from Canada, arrivals to the country from the United States were up by some 20 percent during the January-September 2018 period.

On the other hand, based on data to September 2018, Greece saw a slight drop in arrivals from the UK, while arrivals from Russia dropped by almost 20 percent.