The cost of air tickets, the recession in Germany and the general course of interest rates and inflation in large markets for Greece are reflected in low booking rate which is seen even in very popular destinations.
As mentioned by tourism agents on the sidelines of the general assembly of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) although bookings started strongly in the first months of the yeary now observed (with the exception of some iconic accommodations) one “relative hold”.
A concern is also caused by the number of air seats offered, which as a whole is increased by 2.5% in the summer season, compared to last year, according to INSETE’s airdata-tracker, but four of the five largest “sources” of tourist of arrivals in our country, namely Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands show a reduction of places by 14.9%, 8.1%, 2.2% and 1.2% respectively.
It should be noted that of the five “blood donor” countries of Greek tourism, only the United Kingdom shows a small increase (3.8%) in the places offered. Also, of the 24.34 million air seats offered by INSETE’s air data, 15.2 million seats are offered by the five aforementioned countries. However, it must be clarified that the offered airline seats are an absolutely indicative size and do not prejudge the final result.
Also, the gap left by the four major powers is covered by other countries, mainly Israel (from 584.01 thousand in 2022 to 953.6 thousand, an increase of 63.3%), Poland (635 thousand, +27.5%) , Spain, (+27.8%), Cyprus (+16.1%) etc. It is also pointed out that the places offered from the USA reach 478,171 and are increased by 1.5% compared to last year.
The above image is consistent with the estimates of the European Travel Commission (ETC) survey last March, which was once again carried out by MINDHAUS of the VANDO group. According to her, about 72% of Europeans, a percentage reduced by 5% compared to last year in the same period, intend to travel between April and September of this year. This development seems to be influenced by a reduction in the “revenge travel” trend that dominated the first period after the coronavirus.
The survey also points out that 30% of Europeans will travel between April and May (an amount 6% higher compared to the corresponding survey last year), while 40% will travel between June and July and 23% between August and September a decrease of 9% compared to the same period last year.
This change in seasonal travel patterns with trips falling in the August and September period may reflect travelers’ increasing desire to avoid peak season destinations, the survey highlights.
Rising travel costs due to inflation, the ongoing war in Ukraine and concerns about extreme weather are playing a role in Europeans’ travel choices for the spring and summer of 2023.
The new president of SETE, Mr. Yiannis Paraschis, also spoke about some clouds on the horizon of Greek tourism. “Obviously, the bigger picture is not just made up of auspicious signs. The wider international environment continues to be characterized by macro-economic and geopolitical issues affecting the tourism market.
There are still markets that are closed (such as Russia, Ukraine, Belarus), markets that are in a slow recovery process (such as China), while financial instability and banking problems in major economies, major staff shortages in the labor market internationally, the energy issues, and the parallel increase in the levels of inflation and interest rates are “gray clouds on the horizon”, said Mr. Paraschis speaking at the open session of the SETE general assembly.
However, the data we have so far at our disposal, both in terms of pre-bookings and in terms of airline seats for most regions of the country, lead to the conclusion that, barring an unexpected negative windfall, the 31 million arrivals and 18.2 billion euros 2019 revenue will be surpassed this year, he added.
The same optimism is expressed by the Minister of Tourism, Ioanna Dretta, who, speaking at the SETE assembly, emphasized that Greek tourism this year “is headed for a new increase in its size” and “constitutes the superpower of the Greek economy”, as she described it.
Source: in.gr
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