Estimates of travelers from the United States this year will well exceed 1 million in 2022, and U.S. visitor receipts will well exceed the estimated 1 billion received last year as major US airlines expand their fleet program to Greece. This year’s summer season, direct flights between the US and Greece are expected to exceed last year’s. More than 56 weekly direct flights from the United States as well as Canada are already scheduled, and efforts by both the Department of Tourism and industry bodies are ongoing. The inclination is to actually start increasing routes from the already historically high number of 2022, according to sources who took part in the relevant talks with US companies.

In addition, last year’s return of Americans to pre-crisis levels and close to their historical highs is obviously due to the direct relationship of Greece with the other side of the Atlantic.

Characteristically, receipts from the United States until November 2022, for the period for which official data from the Bank of Greece are available, increased by 86.4% compared to 2021 and amounted to 1.057 billion euros. Tourist flow from the US increased by 167.5% to 975,700 travelers. Together with December, these figures are expected to increase by about 5%. The goal for 2023 is to grow this market by about 10%.

Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias is heading in this direction, who, according to sources in the ministry, is close to encouraging statements. “Improving relations with the United States and our constructive cooperation during the past tourist season is the best guarantee of even more impressive results,” Mr. Kikilias emphasized in an interview with K. He adds that “we have worked diligently and strategically to achieve two main goals: first, make Greece a year-round destination and bring more income to the country. We are constantly negotiating so that in 2023 tourism will be the spearhead for the Greek economy.”

In particular, it is required that the program of flights to and from the USA begin earlier than once every two years, for as many companies as possible.

Estimates of a significant increase in one million travelers arriving from the US in 2022.

Last year’s US airline flight schedule ended a week ago, and the new one for 2023 starts in March. Consultations by the minister and Athens International Airport have so far provided 56 direct flights per week to and from the US. And others are expected to be added in the next time period.

The launch will take place on March 11 on a Delta flight from JFK to El. Venizelos.” 5 flights a week are planned until March 24 and daily flights from March 25.

From New York, from where many visitors arrived to Athens, according to ELSTAT, from April 6 and from May 6, 3 flights a week will depart daily to Athens. But Emirates will also continue to operate daily direct flights, while American is starting its own daily schedule from May 5th.

Direct daily service from Chicago and Philadelphia begins with the official start of summer on June 1, with more flights than last year. Flights from Boston reportedly start 4 days a week much earlier on May 8th.

In addition, flights from Canada, which has a large Greek population, are expected to give a big boost to tourist flows. From Montreal, flights will begin on March 31, Monday through Friday, and will be daily from May 1, with an already high pre-booking rate. From Toronto, the first plane will take off on March 28, 3 times a week.

More flights are expected to be added to this flight program, with experience from last year showing that many airlines have changed the type of aircraft they use to larger ones.

Greece is the best choice for British, Poles, Austrians, Norwegians

Consistent signals from important markets for Greek tourism support the notion that Greece not only remains, but is also growing as a first travel destination of choice. Only in recent days has Greece taken first place among the preferences of the British, Austrians and Norwegians. This week, Greece has become the first destination that Austrians want to visit during their summer holidays, and really outperforms their competitors. This is the result of a study by the Reisekompass 2023 tourism barometer. Already in 2022, the number of trips from Austria to Greece increased by 13.94% compared to 2019. This is the data of the National Statistical Office of Austria – Bundesanstalt Statistik Österreich – Statistik Austria. . It was also named the Best Travel Destination 2023 at the Grand Travel Awards (GTA) in Oslo, Norway. In the days leading up to the release of the survey for Austria and Norway, Greece was among the most popular destinations for 2023, according to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA). In particular, Greece was ranked 5th on the British Travel Association’s Top 23 Destinations list this year. Greece’s main competitor in Europe, Spain, remained first. The US is in second place, followed by France in third and Italy in fourth.

But even for Poland, a very large Eastern European market that largely made up for the absence of Russian and Ukrainian tourists last year, Greece still remains the top choice for Poles, based on the findings of the B2B Greek-Polish Tourism event. Shop.

Meanwhile, Crete is among the top 10 destinations that will set trends in adventure, nature and wellness tourism worldwide in 2023, according to a recent survey by Spanish travel services provider Mabrian Technologies. In this ranking, Crete came in second after Bali, Indonesia, and above the Algarve, Portugal. Brittany, Corsica, Wales, Sardinia, Antalya, Maldives and Sicily round out the top ten. According to relevant information, Crete has already increased the number of air seats by 17% this year compared to last year, both on domestic and international flights. According to Mabrian, in terms of accommodation, this is the place with the second most competitive average price offer for hotels in the coming months.

They close slots at regional airports

It is expected that at the end of January the first figure for regular flights from abroad to Athens airport will be completed, and after February 15, the corresponding figure for 14 regional airports. Currently, foreign airlines are negotiating with the administration of the Greek airport, and, according to reliable information, the picture is positive. That is, it is expected that flights from new destinations will be added, as well as new companies will come to Athens and regional airports. In addition, major travel agencies, some of which operate their own airlines, are planning to send more opportunities to Greece. The restrained optimism currently prevailing among hoteliers regarding bookings is due to the fact that the downturn in the Greek visitor market is not as deep as previously thought and the travel mood remains strong. Friday also released the latest data from the Bank of Greece on receipts and fees from abroad for the previous financial year. In particular, in the period from January to November 2022, the arrival of foreign travelers to Greece increased by 90.3% compared to the corresponding period in 2021, and the corresponding receipts increased by 68.5%. These figures correspond to 88.9% of arrivals in the eleventh month of 2019 and 97.2% of receipts.