What’s traffic like this year in Greece?
Jun 13, 2021, 9:56 pm
#1
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,193
What’s traffic like this year in Greece?
For those who have experienced tourism in Greece previously and have an insight into this season through having seen bookings, working in the industry or just having been there recently, how busy is Greece this year? We are planning on going next month and I’m not sure if it’s going to be really hectic, quiet or similar to before. Thanks.
Jun 14, 2021, 1:12 am
#2
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For those who have experienced tourism in Greece previously and have an insight into this season through having seen bookings, working in the industry or just having been there recently, how busy is Greece this year? We are planning on going next month and I’m not sure if it’s going to be really hectic, quiet or similar to before. Thanks.
Jun 14, 2021, 1:45 pm
#3
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Originally Posted by The Guardian
Confounding predictions, Greece is experiencing a recovery of its heaviest industry – tourism – thanks to an unexpected surge in visitors from the US. Few would have predicted it this time last year when lockdowns made Europe a distant dream, but in the shadow of the Acropolis last week it was Americans who were taking advantage of Athens’s determination to kick off the season.
<snip>
To meet demand, more direct daily flights to Greece from the US have been inaugurated than at any other time. The Greek tourism minister, Haris Theoharis, says that 10 airlines, including nine US carriers, are adding Athens to their route schedules as vaccination rollouts drive a rebound in commercial air travel.
Theoharis describes the American recovery as huge compared with other parts of Europe, calling it a reward for a tourism revival based as much on the nation’s relatively successful handling of Covid-19 as strategic planning.
<snip>
The decision to launch so many non-stop flights to Athens followed trips to Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas, hub cities for airlines that now have the Greek capital on their route schedule. “More than 40% of all seats on these flights have already been sold. Recovery is somewhere around 50% [in the American market] on 2019,” he said, referring to the last pre-pandemic year when the Mediterranean hotspot attracted a record 33.1 million visitors. Of that number, more than three million were holidaymakers from the UK.
Jun 15, 2021, 3:23 am
#4
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Join Date: May 2020
Location: BEG
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Judging by my upcoming flight to ATH, it will probably be hectic. Well, at least if you're taking a ferry from Piraeus - doesn't take a lot of people to make boarding a vessel hectic ha. I booked a seat in J with A3 hoping for a rather solitary experience and my dreams are slowly being crushed as every couple of days another seat is occupied.
Jun 16, 2021, 8:33 am
#5
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: 39000ft
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Depends on what you mean by "busy" (given the fact that people used to jump on each other for a shot at Oia sunset). Right now (still June) things are quiet even in the big touristic bombs like JTR and JMK. Flights seem to be quite full though, because right now A3 (OA) has only 4 flights / day to JTR (whereas in pre-COVID times, they already had 9-11 flights per day). You can still hit good prices for hotels though which is a good thing. Locals complain that islands are still empty and everybody hopes for a better July and August. Do not forget that many people in Europe are still waiting for their vaccine shot.
Jun 16, 2021, 10:19 am
#6
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 1,313
No island is going to get filled with tourists within 1 week or because of 10-20 flights.
We had our best vacation in a very long time last summer on Corfu, but we were there before they even started accepting international flights and stayed through mid-July.
I would bet that if you visit Greece this year early July, you will also have most of wherever you are to yourself.
In the news the statistics they "proudly" presented 2 days ago ("proudly" as if things are looking up for tourism) saw just 30-40% of all the hotels currently in operation at around 30% capacity, with their owners suggesting, that if all travel bans that are expected to be lifted in the next weeks do actually get lifted, they will reach 50% capacity.
If I could, I'd once again to early. A dream!
We had our best vacation in a very long time last summer on Corfu, but we were there before they even started accepting international flights and stayed through mid-July.
I would bet that if you visit Greece this year early July, you will also have most of wherever you are to yourself.
In the news the statistics they "proudly" presented 2 days ago ("proudly" as if things are looking up for tourism) saw just 30-40% of all the hotels currently in operation at around 30% capacity, with their owners suggesting, that if all travel bans that are expected to be lifted in the next weeks do actually get lifted, they will reach 50% capacity.
If I could, I'd once again to early. A dream!
Jun 17, 2021, 3:05 am
#7
Join Date: Jun 2008
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Data point:
a friend flew ORD-ATH the other day. He overheard a conversation at the gate that Business is full with revenue passengers, so there will be no upgrades regardless if eVIP's (complimentary upgrades for the highest FF tiered members) or Non-Revs. W was also full, Y fairly full.
a friend flew ORD-ATH the other day. He overheard a conversation at the gate that Business is full with revenue passengers, so there will be no upgrades regardless if eVIP's (complimentary upgrades for the highest FF tiered members) or Non-Revs. W was also full, Y fairly full.
Jun 17, 2021, 6:47 am
#8
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That makes sense. More people will be booking C or W both due to the fact that traveling has been a while (So people may want to spend a little extra), and, because not everyone likes to sit up close to others in Economy with covid still going round to some degree.
Jun 18, 2021, 1:41 am
#10
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Right now it is still quiet slow, I was there for 4 weeks, and the people arriving with the ferries nearly dbl. every, the number of ferries which are arriving got up from 3-4 a day to 8-9 a day.
Jun 18, 2021, 1:41 pm
#12
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The US carriers may finally learn the lesson that it's better to sell the seats in J rather than give them away via upgrades etc!!!
Jun 20, 2021, 5:36 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,193
im sorry you don’t understand my question. Rereading it, I’m not sure it is ambiguous. I’ve visited the country every summer for the last c.15 years except last. It’s a general question.
Jun 20, 2021, 7:05 pm
#14
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Heraklion, Greece
Posts: 7,565
I'm presently on an island (Cephalonia) that in pre-C19 years would be booming at this time of year with British tourists and there is hardly anybody there. It was not completely empty due to the fact that it is the Holy Sprit weekend (Monday's a public holiday for several professions in Greece), so there were a lot or cars with non-local tags/plates around. My "statistic" was that only about 10% of the tourists you'd see were non-Greeks. Locals are now waiting for the Italians in July and August and hope that the UK will change its travel recommendations as soon as possible. From the visitors' point of view the "empty" island is even more beautiful than before, but I'm fully aware of the fact that this means little to local economy. As fo the "remaining" trafic (sorry OP, your question was very ambiguous 
) road traffic: easy, airports: no idea, ferries: full, restaurants: empty, and it is expected/hoped that it will soon pick up...
) road traffic: easy, airports: no idea, ferries: full, restaurants: empty, and it is expected/hoped that it will soon pick up...
Jun 20, 2021, 9:53 pm
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,193
I'm presently on an island (Cephalonia) that in pre-C19 years would be booming at this time of year with British tourists and there is hardly anybody there. It was not completely empty due to the fact that it is the Holy Sprit weekend (Monday's a public holiday for several professions in Greece), so there were a lot or cars with non-local tags/plates around. My "statistic" was that only about 10% of the tourists you'd see were non-Greeks. Locals are now waiting for the Italians in July and August and hope that the UK will change its travel recommendations as soon as possible. From the visitors' point of view the "empty" island is even more beautiful than before, but I'm fully aware of the fact that this means little to local economy. As fo the "remaining" trafic (sorry OP, your question was very ambiguous ) road traffic: easy, airports: no idea, ferries: full, restaurants: empty, and it is expected/hoped that it will soon pick up...
) road traffic: easy, airports: no idea, ferries: full, restaurants: empty, and it is expected/hoped that it will soon pick up...