The first quarter of 2012 showed
a notable decrease of inbound flow of foreign tourists to Greece.
According to the data of the country's 13 airports, which accept 95% of
tourists, the decrease amounted to 3.8% in March in comparison with the same
period of the previous year, and as for the whole quarter – 8.8%. The main
decrease was showed by the Athens
Airport – 352 thousand tourists
came here, which is 16% less than a year ago.
Nevertheless, representatives of
Greek travel industry are not losing optimism. According to their data, in
spite of the strikes taking place in the country, the tourist flow activated
when spring came. The first three months of the last year also showed the
decrease in the passenger flow to the airports of the country, however later
the demand improved and by the end of the year the amount of arrivals increased
by 9.6%. Only the main airport of the country – in Athens – showed a downturn. Many of the
leading Greek resorts showed a significant growth of the tourist flow. For
example, the islands of Rhodes and Kos added 20% each, the flow to Thessaloniki increased by
11%.
The largest markets for Greece still remain Germany
(13.6%), Great Britain
(10.7%) and France (7%),
however, the flows from these countries are practically not growing, and such
markets as Russia,
for example, show tremendous increase. For 2011, the amount of Russian guests
in Greece
grew by 65% and amounted to 739 thousand against 451 thousand in 2010.
According to the state statistics, the overwhelming majority of Russians come
to Greece
by plane; about 21 thousand people come by car, 3.5 thousand – by sea.