The international tourism market shows its “grin” to the Greek, because in our country, as it turned out, “supply and demand” are not balanced, and this is obvious.
On the demand side, there is a lag behind the expectations cultivated at the beginning of the season, and on the supply side, prices for services do not correspond to “value for money”, which somewhat “blurs the ideal picture”.
Overall, however, the numbers remain positive compared to both 2022 and 2019. Representatives of tourism and the Bank of Greece still believe that the level of revenues in our country will exceed 18.3 billion euros (indicator of 2019).
In the first quarter, when international tour operators booked thousands of places and were in anticipation of a boom in demand, they rushed to call 2023 a “super year”. However, the continuation was not as “bright”, as either new travel markets “came out” with proposals similar to Turkey’s, forcing travel agents to change preferences, or the general climate of economic uncertainty in Western Europe dampened global travel sentiment.
Thus, on the one hand, the number of travelers has not increased as much as expected, and on the other hand, the general impression is that the number of overnight stays has decreased. While the trend value for money has become even more noticeable. At the same time, a decrease in the flow “outside hotel consumption” was recorded, which affected the dynamics of income.
The opinion of the owner of an average 5-star hotel in Crete, expressed by ot.gr, is typical: “When we lower the price, we reach 100% occupancy, as soon as we increase it, everyone turns away from us.”
Finding the right balance (price) in a period of increased operating costs and on the hotel side is a difficult crossword puzzle due to international competition as well as economic market pressures that affect purchasing power.
It is typical for the Bank of Greece to point out in a recent report on the state of the Greek economy by its Governor Yiannis Sturnaras, which states that “expectations for passenger traffic and related revenues are favorable, and the corresponding figures are expected to exceed 2019 levels … However, the continued presence inflation that is eroding disposable income in travellers’ main origin countries, as well as uncertainties related to geopolitical events, the high cost of air transport and competition from other regions that are resuming tourism, could limit expected fees.”
The former president of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE), Yannis Retsos, puts forward similar language, explaining the differences seen from destination to destination, but expressing his optimism for record revenues in the new year. “During the tourist year, there will be heard both positive and negative feedback on the course of tourism in different directions. Why? Yes, because 2023 is the first normal year since 2019. And in a normal year there is intense competition from major international destinations. There are tour operators who adjust their plans according to their interests, There is very cheap but high quality destinations Türkiye and Egyptin other words, there are different options. Our duty is to provide a service at a reasonable price, which corresponds to the ratio of price and quality. And of course, the constant improvement of infrastructure and therefore destinations, so that the symbiosis of residents and tourists is sustainable, ”says Giannis Retsos in a long tweet.
However, according to the latest INSET data, the picture of arrivals is purely positive. Between January and May 2023, 5.3 million international air arrivals were registered at the most important airports in Greece, which exceeds the level of January-May 2022, showing an increase of +29.3% / +1.2 million arrivals, compared to since 2019, the growth is 9.6%.
In international car arrivals are lagging behindas they reached 2.3 million in the five months of 2023, up from 1.5 million between January and May 2022, indicating a +52.9%/+779 thousand car arrivals increase, but compared they decreased by 14.8% from 2019, when they reached 2.7 million. However, it should be emphasized that in 2019 the number of arrivals by road decreased over the same period compared to 2018.
In total, 7.6 million people arrived by air and road transport, which is almost 1.5% more than in 2019.
In terms of air arrivals, Athens International Airport (+57.5% compared to 2022) and 2019 (+10.5%), Thessaloniki Airport (+33.2% from 2022 and 3.5% from 2019), Heraklion Airport (+8.5% and +2.97%), Chania (+11.0%, +8.33%) and Rhodes (+17.2%, +25.06%) on Kos (+7.8%, +2.68%). Also at Corfu Airport, the number of international air arrivals reached 259 thousand, showing an increase of +9.1% compared to 2022 and 8.14% compared to 2019.
Against, at Mykonos airport for the 5th month, 49 thousand international air arrivals were registered, which indicates decline by 17.6% compared to 2022 and by 20.96% compared to 2019. decline by 4.9% compared to 2022 also recorded at the airport Santorini. However, compared to 2019, it fixes height by 31.03%.
Kalamata airport also recorded a decrease of 12% (-3 thousand passengers) compared to 2022, and compared to 2019, the decrease is 8.3%. However, international flights reached 2.6 million in May, up 14.6% from May 2022 and 8.7% from May 2019.
The Board of Directors is optimistic. The report from the Governor of the Bank of Greece notes that the initial figures are especially positive, as in the first quarter of the year, non-resident arrivals and travel revenues reached 111% and 116%, respectively, of 2019 levels, raising expectations to beat the historically strong performance of 2019.
The arrival of foreign passengers at all airports in the country exceeded the corresponding figure in 2019 by 9.1%.
In addition, in a recent survey conducted by the European Tourism Commission, Greece was ranked 4th among the top 10 European destinations citizens want to visit in 2023, but falls well behind the top three countries (France, Spain and Italy).
At the same time, she significantly ahead of the next countries in the ranking, i.e. Germany, Croatia, Portugal, Austria, Belgium and the UK. The study concludes that pleasant weather conditions and attractive offers are the main criteria for choosing a destination for Europeans, and preference for sparsely populated destinations ranks third. Therefore, adds the Bank of Greece, the prospects for Greek tourism for the current year remain promising. However, average travel expenses decreased by 9.6% compared to the same period in 2022, although it should be taken into account that the January-April period is not a period of high demand for travel services.
At the same time, in our neighboring Turkey, explosive growth in arrivals, as the number of international travelers to the country reached 14.3 million in the 5th month of 2023, up 23.65% from 2022 and 10% from 2019. In the first four months of 2023, arrivals reached 21 million, up 32.4% from 2022 and down 1.9% from the same period in 2019.
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