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INSETE: City Breaks, Winter Destinations ‘Hot’ in February for Greeks

Thessaloniki, Greece. Photo Source@ Thessaloniki Travel - Thessaloniki Tourism Organization (Christian Vercruysse)

Thessaloniki, Greece. Photo Source @Thessaloniki Travel – Thessaloniki Tourism Organization (Christian Vercruysse)

Αthens, Thessaloniki and Arahova welcomed the most Greek visitors in February, followed by the coastal towns of Nafplion and Loutraki, according to recent data released by SETE Intelligence, the research department of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE).

Arachova. Photo Source; Visit Greece

Arahova. Photo Source; Visit Greece

The three hotspots were also selected by Greek travelers in January, with the top five winter destinations being Kalavryta, Trikala Korinthia, Ioannina, Portaria on Mt Pelion, and Metsovo.

In the same month, according to INSETE analysts, incoming international air traffic increased through the country’s main airports by 17.8 percent to 358,000 passengers from 304,000, and specifically by 17 percent for Athens to 252,000 from 215,000 while regional airports saw activity increase by 19.6 percent.

Over the January-February period, international arrivals grew by 13.9 percent or by an additional 90,000 to 734,000, while Athens welcomed 523,000 travelers, up by 12.5 percent compared to the same period last year.

For February, the number of domestic flights increased by 9.2 percent to 464,000 compared to the same month a year ago at 425,000.

Photo © Kalavryta Ski Center

Photo © Kalavryta Ski Center

On the down side, road arrivals declined by 207,000 in the January-February period or by 18.5 percent to 913,000.

Citing Bank of Greece data, INSETE noted that Greece in January saw a 53.2 percent increase in travel receipts to 232.4 million euros, up from 152 million euros during the same month in 2018. The growth in revenue is attributed to an increase of 9.4 percent in incoming tourist traffic to over 660,000 travelers that month.

Global Review Index (GRI) for hotels

The month of February also saw Greece, at the top of the Global Review Index (GRI) for hotels with an 86.7 percent score, followed by Cyprus (85.2 percent) and Spain in third spot with 84.9 percent.

Highest in ranking in terms of satisfaction were accommodation facilities on the Cyclades islands with a GRI score of 89.9 percent, and Epirus in the mainland with a 91.2 percent rating.

In terms of source markets for January 2019, based on trivago data, the greatest demand for Greek destinations was from Germany, the UK and Italy.

Hotel prices were in the same range with those at rival destinations.

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