Deutsche Welle: Greece displaces Turkey

The prophets of Doom who predicted a dramatic reduction in bookings to Greece due to the refugee and to the upheavals in …
neighboring Turkey, does not seem to be confirmed. On the contrary, this year’s bookings from Germany to Greece may be headed for a new record, according to Deutsche Welle.
On the occasion of the conduct of the very important for the German Market international exhibition CMT Stuttgart (14-22 January), the Greek programme of Deutsche Welle records the first results of the reservation for the next tourist season.
The trend this year wants the Germans to plan early this year, their holiday, with the result that the demand for vacation packages in Greece has risen sharply. “A lot of Germans who did not vacation last year, closing this year packs the most early”, stresses the Ζεμπάστιαν Edel from the TUI.
In accordance with the German colossus of tourism, TUI, the number of bookings to Greece in the “hot” phase of January’s increased by 41% compared with the corresponding period last year, a trend that is expected to increase after the completion of the exhibition CMT in Stuttgart.
Greece is at the start of this season’s favorites in the German market and is moving even better than last year’s very good levels. After many years Greece has managed last year to climb again in second place of preferences, following Spain and leaving behind Turkey in third place.
The main reasons for the sharp increase in demand for vacation packages in Greece, associated no doubt with the dramatic developments in neighbouring Turkey. However, it is not the main reason. As said in the Deutsche Welle, the spokesman of the TUI Άνγια Brown, in the last few years considerable investments have been made in Greece in the field of tourism, both from the side of the hoteliers and of the same TUI, which has taken advantage of the initiatives of the Ministry of Tourism to extend the tourist season and the opening of new Greek destinations, offering the Germans more options for their holidays.
According to executives of the Ministry, the increased demand from Germany to Greece reflects to a large extent the level of demand for launching of new flights to Greece, unlike Spain and Turkey, where the demand is negative for launching new flights. Overall recorded an increase of 19% of the planned jobs, which translated to 3.6 million additional jobs compared with last year, according to data of the Hellenic Authority for the Coordination of Flights. More than 50% of the additional positions coming from the German-speaking countries. With Germany recording an increase of positions 46%, Austria 84% and Switzerland 26%.
Indicative is the case of Kos. According to the data of the platform booking Traveltainment, the December three Greek destinations, Kos, Rhodes, Heraklion) showed the largest increase compared with the corresponding month of 2015. Kos was at the top with a rise in reservation 182%, while the followed, Rhodes, and Heraklion, with an increase of 68% and 66%, respectively. Something that is a basic indication that the German tour operator they want to support the destination (Kos), after you have invested regularly for years on this.
Of course, Crete and Rhodes will reap, and this year the rise of the reservation, both of the two destinations according to the first indications indicate a significant increase of 40% of new direct flights. A similar picture is observed and in smaller destinations, where Mykonos and Santorini it seems that they will have at their disposal more than twice as many locations compared to last year and the island υπερτριπλάσιες! Up to now, the tour operators calling at Mykonos and Santorini on the $ 70,000 seats in addition to in each destination, which translated into an increase of 161% and 139% respectively compared to last year. Respectively, the island will record the largest increase in jobs among all the Greek destinations, reaching an impressive + 235% !
In absolute numbers, however, the primacy of Crete is undeniable, with 1.5 million posts planned jointly by the Heraklion and Chania. However, the turn of the tour operator towards the Ionian sea seems to be the general trend, since in addition to the huge increase in the demand for Zakynthos, increases record all of the destinations:Corfu (+31%), Lefkada-Preveza through Aktion (+15%) and Wisconsin (+107%).