Tourism: In the US market, direct flights are on the rise

of Vicky Kourlibini

One of the most important foreign tourist markets for our country, with a high average cost per visitor and with very large shares of traffic to destinations such as Athens and Santorini (reaching even 50%), American tourists seem to overcome the initial doubts. regarding the situation prevailing in Europe due to the Russian-Ukrainian war and they are planning their vacation again, with Greece being high in the preferences.

The messages from the US market are optimistic, with the direct air connection between the two countries being the “key” to the increase in demand. Half a million more specifically reach the available airline seats.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, only from the USA there will be 9 flights a day, a number that corresponds to 63 flights per week, while it is possible that there will be direct flights to the major airports of America and Thessaloniki.

It is noted that the first flight from the US to Greece was on March 7. The companies that operate direct flights are Delta Airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines, while Emirates also offers seats.

How much they spend, how much they stay

The most popular destinations for US tourists in Greece are Attica and the South Aegean. According to the Bank of Greece, in 2019, 12,457 thousand overnight stays were recorded (+ 52.3% compared to 2016) with a market share of 5.4%, when in 2016, 8,178 thousand and a market share of 4.3% were recorded. In the period 2019-2020, overnight stays showed a decrease of -88.8% (to 1.4 million) with the share of the American market amounting to 2.2%.

Receipts from the US in the period 2016-2019 showed an increase of 63.3% (from € 728 million in 2016 to € 1.2 billion in 2019) while on the contrary in the period 2019-2020 a decrease of -92.8% ( to € 86 million).

The share of the American market in 2020 in terms of receipts amounted to 2%, when in 2016 it was 5.7% and in 2019 6.7%. The majority of receipts were recorded in Q1 (69.9%) while the respective figures for Q3 and Q4 were 18.5% and 11.6%.

At the same time, the Average Per Capita Expenditure in the period 2016-2019 increased by 7.8% (from € 934.9 in 2016 to € 1,008.2 in 2019) while in the period 2019-2020 decreased by 19.9% ​​( at € 807.5). The NPV of tourists from the US in 2020 was 38.2% higher than that of the country as a whole (€ 807.5 versus € 584.4).

The Average Expenditure per Night in the period 2016-2019 recorded an increase of 7.2% (from € 89.0 in 2016 to € 95.4 in 2019). On the contrary, in the period 2019-2020, MDD recorded a decrease of -35.4% (to € 61.7).

Encouraging messages

According to Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias Greece is in the first place of the preference of the French visitors, while the wave of reservations from England, Germany and the Scandinavian market is very important.

“We expect strong currents – after two years – from Australia as well. We also have two direct flights from Canada, while Israel is proving to be an important partner. And the most impressive thing is that we have these figures and numbers with the “China, as you know, because of the pandemic,” Kikilias said in a radio interview.

Regarding the revenues expected from Tourism this year, he noted that travel receipts – only for Athens – in the period of January-February this year amounted to 273 million euros, increased by 306% from the corresponding period of 2021.

The Minister of Tourism reiterated that the “fund” will be made at the end of 2022, however he did not fail to mention the very strong first data that are already confirmed.