Travel to Greece is steadily rising with the country expecting to welcome some 32 million tourists; a significant increase from last year’s 27.4 million.
With travel now worked into the annual household budget, a large number of Australians make up that cohort.

This comes as little surprise to Parthenon Travel’s Senior Travel Consultant Ms Laras*. She says Greece has always been a popular travel destination, but admits that demand has steadily risen, with the World Cup in Russia this year giving numbers an extra boost.

“In general there’s more demand for Greece – everybody’s dream is to go to Greece at least once in their lifetime – but this year because of the World Cup those going to Russia are organising to go down south,” she told Neos Kosmos.

Helen Leris, Office Manager at Top Tours & Travel in Oakleigh shares the observation. While she noted a high interest in Greece in 2017, this year she says bookings are up by as much as 80 per cent.

“This time last year you could generally get flights. Whereas now, I can’t get seats; planes are going full and when I speak to the airlines they say ‘It’s literally full, there’s only first class and business available’,” Ms Leris revealed.

Kon Kavalakis, Managing Director of Grecian Tours, says, he too, has noticed a steady increase, particularly over the last three to four years.
Aside from the obvious reasons of climate and natural beauty, he says its reputation as a safe environment in the region is also a key factor, namely for families.

“Turkey is not stable at this stage,” agrees Ms Laras. “So the demand is for Greece, Italy and Spain.”

The most popular times to travel to Greece for Australian rsidents are May to October, with retired Greek Australians travelling for up to six months at a time, while young families take advantage of the school holidays for a Mediterranean getaway, as a chance to introduce their children to the motherland.

But it’s by no means only the Greek demographic setting their sights on Greece; all Australians are interested, especially millenials.

While the most popular destinations continue to be islands such as Mykonos and Santorini, Mr Kavalakis says there is an increasing trend to smaller islands such as Milos, and Ionian islands Zakynthos, Corfu, and Kefalonia, noted also by Ms Leris.

“When I speak to young Greek Australians now they want something different. They’re doing different types of islands, smaller islands, or ones you wouldn’t have heard of, which is really good,” she said, adding that she is slowly, but surely, noticing an increasing interest in the mainland.

With overcrowding an increasing issue across popular destinations, expanding the interest points across Greece is key to sustainability long term.

“For me the mainland is the true Greece; there’s so much culture, history, and so much to see and do. The islands are beautiful as well, but it’s very touristy, very commercial. I recently had a couple that came to me and said ‘I’m so happy we did the mainland, because it just showed me the true Greece compared to what I saw on Santorini’.”

While competitiveness among airlines, and the introduction of additional flights, has resulted in greater affordability, especially for those who get in early, accommodation is another story.

With a local population of just over 11 million, the increase in tourists is putting a strain on supply.

“Pre-Greek financial crisis, the prices for Greece were very expensive during peak season and that’s understandable because tourism was up. But when the crisis hit in 2013, prices dropped.
“All of a sudden the Australians started to get scared of travelling to Greece with all the protests and strikes going on, so a lot of accommodation and flights started dropping in price. But this year, I found that everything is going up. During the July-August period, the hotels that I book normally are tripling in price,” said Ms Leris, who adds that over the years the cost of food and cups of coffee has become on par with Australia.

But the numbers indicate that this is no deterrent for those after a Grecian getaway. In fact, with tourism having more than tripled from 6.2 million in 1998,

Greece has seen the biggest increase in visitors out of all major European cities.

* Ms Laras requested that her full name be withheld.