Tourism Minister: Greece expects first tourists on March 1, bookings are on the rise

Greece is preparing to open the tourist season as early as March, Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias said late Tuesday in an interview with a local TV station, while state broadcaster ERT aired it today: “We must be ready by March 1st.”

“I asked everyone, governors, mayors, hotel owners, businessmen who run organized beaches, to be ready by March. Because this year the guests will arrive in Greece early and leave late,” the minister wrote on Twitter.

Εχω ζητήσει από όλους, περιφερειάρχες, δήμαρχους, ξενοδόχους, επιχειρηματίες υγειονομικού ενδιαφέροντος, εμπόρους, όσους διαχειρίζονται οργανωμένες παραλίες, να είναι έτοιμοι από τον Μάρτιο. Γιατί οι επισκέπτες θα έρθουν νωρίς φέτος στην Ελλάδα και θα φύγουν αργά. @x2_action24

— Vassilis Kikilias (@Vkikilias)

Εχω ζητήσει από όλους, περιφερειάρχες, δήμαρχους, ξενοδόχους, επιχειρηματίες υγειονομικού ενδιαφέροντος, εμπόρους, όσους διαχειρίζονται οργανωμένες παραλίες, να είναι έτοιμοι από τον Μάρτιο. Γιατί οι επισκέπτες θα έρθουν νωρίς φέτος στην Ελλάδα και θα φύγουν αργά. @x2_action24

— Vassilis Kikilias (@Vkikilias) February 8, 2022

“>February 8, 2022

In an interview with Action24 TV channel, Kikilias emphasized, speaking about the new tourism year: “Already from the first days of 2022, the number of bookings has increased dramatically for the hotel business, as well as for all professions related to tourism. The demand of airlines for slots, places at Greek airports is increasing. From April, we will have 14 flights a day from the US, high-level tourists who bring in very high incomes.”

Assessing that this year foreign guests will arrive early and leave late, Kikilias stressed that “the big goal is to extend the tourist season.”

He added that “investments made and housing upgrades bring much better quality tourists at any time of the year. We want the French to come to Greece for 8 weeks of school holidays. We want Israeli tourists to come during their holy holiday month, September. We want to revive and support spa tourism, wellness, medical tourism, which is a huge source of income in Northern Europe, Germany and Austria.”

No one knows where this SPA and wellness tourism is. After all, the Greek authorities, as well as entrepreneurs in the field of tourism, in every possible way ignore the development of this topic, limiting themselves to a few points throughout the country that are not able to properly serve domestic tourists, not to mention external ones.

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