‘Fun’ Greece at the Top of Dutch Travelers’ Wish List for 2020

All the more Dutch holidaymakers are including Greece on their wish lists with local tour operators expecting bookings for Greek destinations in 2020 to rise.

Fun, recreation, and entertainment are the top points in mind when selecting Greece, according to feedback collected by Greek National Tourism Organization officials at this year’s Vakantiebeurs 2020 held in Utrecht, Holland, this month.

Demonstrating the trend, Greece was named the best destination for “fun and going out” on the Dutch tourism platform Reisgraag.nl.

According to the GNTO, and after meetings with tour operators based in Holland, prebookings to Greece are on the rise compared to a year earlier with the country’s large tourism players absorbing the Τhomas Cook share of the market.

To meet the growing demand, airline companies have decided to increase the number of seats available for flights out of Holland to Greece adding to the already existing routes to 20 Greek destinations.

In 2019, the number of Dutch visitors to Greece exceeded the one million mark with Crete in the lead as the most preferred destination, followed by Kos, Zakynthos, Rhodes, and Corfu. Other winning spots include Samos, Lesvos, Kefalonia, Karpathos, and Halkidiki.

Dutch nationals are set to travel more according to predictions by research firm Trends & Tourism presented on the sidelines of the expo. The report expects a 24 percent increase in the number of Dutch going on holiday abroad by 2030 translating into 44 million tourists.

Featuring this year at the Vakantiebeurs 2020 expo was the island of Lefkada marking the launch of a Corendon Airlines route to the Ionian island.

Meanwhile, during the Vakantiebeurs 2020 show, the GNTO stand featured photos of Greece taken by 100 Dutch bloggers who participated in the #ilovegriekenland campaign.

It should be noted, that the Dutch market is the fifth source market for Greece after the UK, Germany, Italy, and France.