Greece Seals Deals for More Tourist Arrivals in 2022
The Greek Tourism Ministry has made two important agreements with companies abroad that are expected to boost the number of arrivals to Greece in 2022.
Speaking on SKAI TV on Saturday, Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias informed on the ministry’s agreement with the Der Touristik Group, which operates in Germany and Scandinavian markets.
According to the minister, the company agreed to increase the number of visitors it brings to Greece during the summer months in 2022. Moreover, Der Touristik also plans to send some 50 percent more visitors to Greece during the October-December 2022 period.
The ministry’s second recent deal for next season involves Norwegian Cruise Line. The leading cruise company plans to bring more than 200,000 cruise passengers in 2022, making 500 calls to Greek ports, from 2 March 2022 to 22 November.
It is reminded that leisure travel group Jet2 also agreed to boost the number of airline seats to Greece in 2022 on flights to a number of Greek destinations, including Athens.
“Travelers trust us and choose Greece as a safe destination, because in the last two years we have succeeded through a great effort to take care of our fellow citizens, to observe the health measures and to keep the country on course,” he said, calling for all to comply with the country’s current pandemic measures and also underlining the importance of vaccination.
Referring to the performance of winter destinations these days, Minister Kikilias pointed out high occupancy levels for both tourist and non-tourist areas.
“I also see domestic tourists in our winter destinations, which is in the government’s strategy,” he noted.
Commenting on this year’s tourism revenue, Kikilias referred to a recovery.
“In October, travel receipts reached 98.4 percent of October 2019 pre-pandemic levels and travel receipts for the first ten months of the year (January-October) are at 10.2 billion euros… And we are doing very well in the last two months of the year. This is a recovery in practice,” the minister said.