No seats left on Easter ferries
Ferries will depart on Thursday and Friday with a 100% occupancy rate, to serve the Easter travelers, while there are very few airline seats that remain available on the Aegean Airlines network for trips either in Greece or abroad.
The particularly increased traffic for this Easter, higher than last year's, also practically coincides with the start of the summer season for a very large part of the seasonal hotels which start opening from Wednesday, May 1. By the first week of June, the vast majority of Greek seasonal hotels are expected to have opened their doors.
Meanwhile, international inbound traffic has been growing steadily, with available air seats in April up 12.2% and for May the picture points to a 15.1% increase, according to the Airdata figures tracker of the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE). Athens and Thessaloniki have experienced a historically high increase in inbound tourism, with the capital now becoming an established 12-month destination and its major hotels reporting occupancy approaching 100%.
In the rest of Greece, hotel reservations during this holiday season are particularly high, with occupancy reaching an average of 80%, according to the general secretary of the Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers, Angelos Kallias. “There is still a limited number of available beds, but not at all destinations, since many seasonal hotels have not yet opened,” he notes, speaking to Kathimerini.
This year is therefore registering a dynamic start, prescribing positive indications for the summer season, notes the general director of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), Maria Gatsou, explaining that in the first quarter 1.6 million international air arrivals were recorded, plus 1.1 million road arrivals, with travel receipts for January and February amounting to 570 million euros and showing an increase of 24.5% compared to the corresponding period of 2023.
“Building on the milestone year of 2023, Greek tourism has the conditions, the maturity, and the plan to continue to play a leading role and contribute to the economy, society and the environment,” she underlines.