Gastronomy and music performances in May at the Acropolis Museum
April 25, 2023
Dancing Indonesian dances in the parks of Athens
April 27, 2023
However, the price issue, according to early data from hoteliers, may influence the final choice of German tourists, as Greece (as well as Spain) is 10% more expensive in packages this year, while Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt, on the other hand, are gaining on this aspect.
Germany has traditionally been the main inbound tourism market for Greece and last year alone it came second to the UK, with a difference of around 130,000 tourists.
Changing preferences
56.6% of German holidaymakers will book exclusively online in 2023. This is the result of Centouris' "Customer Insights 2023" study on booking trends from the German market. In 2022, the corresponding figure was 49.9%. Respondents cite several reasons for the shift to online bookings: 64.4% prefer to book from the comfort of their own home rather than at a travel agency. 46.5% say they find cheaper prices online and 38.2% say the range of travel offers is wider online. 33.2% find online bookings faster than at a travel agency.
A survey by German publisher PRISMA on the occasion of the ITB exhibition had also shown that 90% of Germans want to travel this year, and 63% of them are planning to visit a European country in 2023. Nine out of ten respondents said they want to go on holiday this year
Key revenue 'reservoir'
In the past year, receipts from Germany increased by 40.6% compared to 2021 to €3,255.2 billion. Travel from Germany increased by 45.0% to 4,352.3 million travellers. German tourists came second in terms of inbound traffic, after the British (4.48 million tourists last year in Greece).
The most popular destinations for tourists from Germany in Greece are Crete, South Aegean and Central Macedonia.
According to Die Forschungsgemeinschaft Urlaub und Reisen (FUR), inbound tourism from Germany in the period 2016-2019 increased by +28.3% (from 3.1 million in 2016 to 4.0 million in 2019). In the period 2019-2021, arrivals from Germany recorded a decrease of 25.5% (to 3.0 million). The market share of the German market in terms of arrivals for 2021 was 20.4%.
