Greeks famously use the phrase “drowned in tourists” if you ask them what an Aegean island looks like in August, the peak month of the summer season.
But this year around, July has already seen a record-breaking number of arrivals.
Specifically, in July 2022 the direct international flights in Southern Aegean were over a million, exceeding by 20 percent the numbers of July 2019 which set a year-record at regional level.
According to official Fraport Greece data, the increase of arrivals per international airport in the Southern Aegean was:
- Santorini 65 per cent
- Mykonos 31 per cent
- Rhodes 13 per cent
- Kos 8 per cent
Meanwhile, the breakdown available of countries of departure for visitors during the previous month of June, provides some insights on the top nations choosing Southern Aegean for their summer holidays.
British tourists made up the majority of arrivals in Rhodes and Santorini for June, Germans topped the market breakdown per country for Kos, and Mykonos had more Italian tourists, closely followed by British and then French.
Other Aegean islands with non-direct international flights reported similar high numbers. Paros for example welcomed over 120,000 visitors by air or sea in June, exceeding by 40% the 2019 rates.
Some islands, including Santorini and Naxos have reportedly already reached 100% capacity for reservations in the month of August, as was also the case for July.
In total, as of mid-July the Cyclades and Dodecanese islands had received over 3 million tourists.