The latest of a series of positive articles on Greek tourism from Germany comes from Frakfurter Allgemeine (FAZ).
In an extensive piece that focuses on the top tour operators in the country, FAZ dubs Greece as the top tourist destination. FAZ notes that “after a difficult year in 2016, with tourists not only avoiding trips to Turkey, but also completely rejecting offers from tour operators, the two leading representatives of European tourism (TUI and Thomas Cook) are optimistic again. Greece is the winner of the year, Egypt records a doubling of reservations.
TUI, after half of the current tourist season lasting until the end of September, records an increase in turnover by 3% to almost 6.4 billion euros. And Thomas Cook recorded an increase of 3%, with a turnover of about 3.4 billion euros.
The Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) announced that it expects a record-breaking 30 million international visitors to Greece for 2017. This represents a growth rate of 7%, or an additional 2 million additional visitors over the previous year. 900,000 U.S. travelers are expected to visit the country this year.
For the last two years, Greece’s growth has been nearly twice the global industry average of 3.9 percent, as reported by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in January 2017.
The Greek National Tourism Organization’s development strategy includes increasing access via air, land and sea; increased focus on audience segmentation including: luxury, religious, cruises, yachting, diving, cultural tourism, adventure, LGBT and new international markets such as China; and the use of new technology platforms and social media.