This year will be the most successful ever for Greek tourism, as confirmed by recent official data from the Civil Aviation Authority, Fraport (which manages airports), and Athens International Airport, for the January-July period.
There has been a 13.7 percent increase for the January-March, 2018 period in arrivals of passengers from abroad, at the 14 regional airports managed by Fraport, compared to the same period in 2017.
Moreover, 1.5mn foreign visitors flew with direct flights from foreign airports toward 14 destinations in Greece (2018 – 12.1mn, 2017 – 10.6mn).
The hike at Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos was even higher. Foreign arrivals were over 9mn for the January-March period, a 15 percent increase. Over 1.2mn more visitors flew from airports abroad towards Athens in 2018, through the end of July (2018 – 9.03mn, 2017 – 7.85mn).
For the first time ever, 1.85mn foreign passengers arrived at the Nikos Kazantzakis airport, in Heraklion, Crete.
Overall, it is estimated that over three million more passengers from abroad arrived in Greece through July of this year, as compared to previous years.
The data lead to projections that the tourism ministry’s target of 32mn tourists this year will be exceeded, and that the total number of arrivals will be over 33mn, as arrivals by land and cruises are following an upward trend, resulting in exceptionally high revenues.
