B. Kikilias: Record in June with 3.48 million traveler arrivals at airports

Foreign arrivals at “El. Venizelos” airport and Fraport airports reached 3,481,000 in June, as announced by the Minister of Tourism Vassilis Kikilias in an interview he granted to ERT1.

More specifically, the arrivals this year in June record a very large increase compared to the corresponding period last year (1,198,000 arrivals), while they are also marginally increased compared to June of the “cloudless” 2019 (3,477,900 arrivals).

The Minister of Tourism confirmed that despite the multiple global crises facing our country, the picture of tourist flows and travel revenues is considered very satisfactory, which is based on the planning implemented by the Ministry of Tourism with the primary objectives of extending the period but also attracting travelers who spend large sums on their vacations, so that the national economy is strengthened and “hot money” comes for as long as possible to the average Greek family.

“What we agreed with the Prime Minister in the winter is that we will try to lengthen the tourist season and bring in more high-income travelers. We are living in a global crisis and I will continue to say that because some people think that what is being done this year is business as usual. It’s not like that at all, it’s the product of very hard work, very important strategy and cooperation with the private sector,” he said characteristically.

Mr. Kikilias pointed to the tourism development taking place this year in areas of Central and Western Macedonia and the replacement of Russians and Ukrainians by other Balkan travelers which was achieved with a targeted strategy and relevant agreements concluded in the past months with major touroperators and political actors of the of the Balkans (Greece is the 1st destination for Serbs and also for Romanians in road tourism) as well as with the great boost that has been given to cruises (280% increase in the port of Thessaloniki). “We are very happy to see this, of course you also saw the statements I made yesterday with Lina Mendoni from the Acropolis which is visited by 16,000 tourists every day. The absolute come back this season is happening in Athens and Attica” said Mr. Kikilias.

In particular, regarding the efforts to extend the tourist season, the Minister of Tourism emphasized that one goal, to start this season earlier, has been achieved and now the next one is to extend the arrival of travelers until the beginning of winter. “I have a very high-level cooperation with the Minister and the Deputy of Finance, with the GLK, with those people who have the Greek economy in their hands and we hope that this season will end in December 2022 and that is why we are preparing multiple surprises and opportunities in Greece for our Northern European friends. And when I say Northern Europeans I don’t just mean the Germans. I also mean the Norwegians, the Swedes, the Finns, the Austrians, all the Scandinavian countries, the French possibly. There is the third and the fourth age, there are pensioners. Given that the energy crisis, unfortunately, is here, and the climate in Northern Europe has been since the beginning of September harsh, cold, and there is a huge need for natural gas and oil, yes, indeed we consider based on our strategy that it is much more advantageous for Northern European pensioners to be in Greece in November, December and January than to be in their countries”, he underlined.

The extension of the tourist season was confirmed live on the ERT show by the president of the Corfu Travel Agencies, Spyros Halikiopoulos, who said that this season exceeds all expectations, showing its momentum from very early on with the first flights since March, and with occupancies in this period exceeding 95%..