The uneven course of tourism
Athens’ figures soar while Mykonos and Santorini seem to have reached saturation point
Greek tourism destinations are moving at different speeds, with some areas even showing a decrease in arrivals from last year.
Athens is the protagonist so far this summer season – i.e. the one that started at the beginning of May, with arrivals from abroad increasing by 24.8% compared to last year and 9.1% compared to 2019. Rises have also been observed on Crete, Corfu, Rhodes, Skiathos, Kos, Zakynthos, Kefalonia and Thessaloniki. On the contrary, Mykonos and Santorini are staring at decline: High prices, bad weather, short-term rentals, over-tourism and negative publicity are cited as unfavorable parameters for these destinations.
In any case, hoteliers and other businessmen in the tourism industry state to Kathimerini they are modestly optimistic that this year will be at least as good as last year and possibly hold positive surprises in September and October.
The capital has evolved into an independent destination and is no longer a stopover for the islands, which is evident on the streets of Athens and on the beaches of Attica. The first two weeks of June showed a similar momentum to May’s. However, Attica hotel occupancies do not reflect this range of upside, as a very large portion of travel flow is now housed in short-term rental accommodation, according to market sources.
Nevertheless, on Mykonos – and to a lesser extent Santorini – tourism in May was significantly lower than the same month of 2022, by 17.5% and 3.2% respectively. These figures concern the traffic at the two airports and to a large extent resemble the corresponding data from the ferry traffic. In the first two weeks of June, Santorini seems to be returning to last year’s levels, while the lagon Mykonos is decreasing by around 15%. However, Mykonos hotel units report a booking decline up to 40% from 2022.
Although many are quick to attribute this pressure to the negative publicity about urban planning and other violations, in reality, especially on Mykonos, economists point out that demand may have reached its price growth endurance limit and that short-term rentals are soaring.
