Tourism numbers on many Greek islands are set to break pre-COVID records as Greece makes a big comeback from the global pandemic.
According to an article published Sunday by the state owned Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), several local mayors from the Cycladic islands and hospitality professionals from across Greece are reporting inflow rates already higher than comparable numbers for 2019.
Officials claim the numbers will push the total even higher, with capacity rates remaining very high for both August and September, despite prices also being higher than before.
According to Antonis Sigalas, the mayor of Santorini, the ever popular island has reached 100% capacity in reservations for August. Sigalas says the figures show an impressive rise over 2019 data.
The mayor says he expects the trend to continue well into fall as the island continues to encourage tourists to visit outside of peak season and stay all over the island instead of focusing on towns such as Oia.
“We are consistently committed to boosting Santorini’s position as a luxury destination and to develop niche tourism,” Sigalas adds.
In nearby Naxos, the Deputy of Tourism for Naxos & Small Cyclades Vangelis Katsaras told ANA-MPA that arrivals by ship rose 200% in May compared to 2019, and over 94% in June compared to 2021.
“Most tourists are from France, Italy, Britain, Germany, and the United States, while bookings were at 100% in July and the same for August and part of September,” Katsaras said.
Recovering the pre-pandemic rates are also reported by the mayors of northern and eastern Aegean islands Limnos, Samos, Lesvos, Ikaria, and Chios, and sometimes exceeding them, based on figures that span from May to August bookings.
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