UK Market Pre-bookings for Halkidiki on Track

Halkidiki Tourism Organization’s president, Grigoris Tasios; marketing manager, Tania Akritidou; and general manager, George Broutzas.

More Brit travelers are expected to visit Halkidiki in 2020 via UK budget airline Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, the Halkidiki Tourism Organization (HTO) said this week following its participation in this year’s World Travel Market (WTM) held in London, last week.

According to the organization, Jet2.com & Jet2holidays Airports & Tourism Organization Manager Jakob Bramley said he was very pleased with last year’s figures, and added that in 2020, Jet2.com plans to increase the number of rooms offered in the destination by 7 percent, expanding the number of partner hotels to 67.

Paliouri, Halkidiki. Photo Source: @Halkidiki

Meanwhile, UK executives informed HTO’s executives that pre-booking activity for Halkidiki was on track with limited losses.

“The exhibition this year was particularly important because of Brexit and the collapse of Thomas Cook. It was very important that the British easily bypassed the collapse of the travel giant,” the organization said in an announcement.

In this direction, the HTO and the Central Macedonia Region will continue their joint campaign with Jet2holidays for the promotion of Halkidiki.

Armenistis Beach, Halkidiki

Also, equally pleased with tourism demand for Halkidiki was Sunway, Ireland’s largest tour operator, which launched its first program in the region last year.

According to Sunway executives, although the Irish market knew very little about Halkidiki, the company sold 800 package tours at 20 partner hotels. The company said that raising the destination’s “visibility” is bound to improve figures.

With this in mind, the HTO announced that it would be participating in the Holiday World Show Dublin in collaboration with the Thessaloniki Tourism Organization.

Porto Koufo, Halkidiki. Photo Source: @Halkidiki

According to travel agent and tour operator feedback collected by HTO General Manager George Broutzas and Marketing Manager Tania Akritidou during WTM London 2019, holidaymakers were interested in Halkidiki’s beaches, the newly launched Halkidiki Walking Routes, luxury tourism and gastronomy.

For 2020, the HTO plans to step up its online presence in addition to organizing a series of workshops, fam and press trips as well as increasing its participation in international tourism fairs.

Grigoris Tasios, the president of the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation, the HTO and the Halkidiki Hotel Association, led Halikidiki’s delegation at WTM London 2019. During the exhibition, Tasios held meetings with key figures of the Tourism Ministry, the Greek National Tourism Organization, and senior executives of easy jet, easy holidays, airline companies and travel agencies.