ForwardKeys: Greece in Top 10 Countries with Strong Tourism Growth in 2023

Zakynthos, Greece.

Greece is among the leading tourist destinations in terms of growth over the 2019-2023 period, according to data by travel intelligence provider ForwardKeys.

More specifically, Greece ranked 7^th based on growth, marking a 6 percent rise from 2019 to 2023 and an 11 percent increase in the 2022-2023 period.

“Looking at the destinations which have done best against 2019 levels, the list is dominated by countries famous for their beaches and warm waters,” according to ForwardKeys.

Flight bookings worldwide this summer were 31 percent higher than the same period in 2022 but down by 23 percent over pre-Covid 2019, the data showed.

The United States was the most visited country destination based on scheduled flight bookings, attracting 11 percent of all international visitors this summer, followed by Spain, the UK, Italy, Japan, France, Mexico, Germany, Canada, and Turkey. At the same time, the US also accounted for an 18 percent share of outbound flight bookings.

Despite double-digit growth for most destinations this summer, volumes are still short of pre-Covid levels. Indicatively, the US was 17 percent up on 2022 but and 1 percent down on 2019 levels; Germany was 21 percent down on 2019 levels, the UK (-20 percent), France (-17 percent), and Italy (-24 percent).

Winners this summer were classic beach destinations outdoing 2019 levels. The Top 10 included Costa Rica up by 19 percent over 2019 and by 15 percent over 2022, the Dominican Republic, Columbia, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Greece, Tanzania, the Bahamas, and Mexico.

In ranking the most visited country destinations by share of scheduled flight bookings, the USA was top of the list by a substantial margin, attracting 11% of all international visitors this summer (1st July – 31st August). Photo source: ForwardKeys

In terms of weather, ForwardKeys analysts said the impact on tourism of unusually high temperatures this summer and the outbreak of fires in Greece and Portugal was limited. Referring to fire-hit Rhodes, analysts said flight bookings had recovered to normal levels in “a matter of weeks”. While bookings for Northern Europe and the Nordic region were 16 percent and 17 percent behind 2019, they demonstrated better performance in the late bookings market, probably influenced by the heatwave.

“Looking ahead to Q4 and further to 2024, I am increasingly optimistic… Right now, global flight bookings for the last three months of the year are just 4 percent behind 2019 and for the first three months of 2024 are 3 percent ahead,” said VP of Insights at ForwardKeys Olivier Ponti. He said that the major tourism powerhouse, China, is starting to revive while the Middle East was the world region showing the greatest promise in Q4.