Greece’s tourism has seen a bumper year in 2017, and the prospects for 2018 are even more positive, according to an annual survey released at World Travel Market London, the leading global event for the travel industry, today (Monday 6 November).
Research among the travel trade found that 35% of respondents are looking to have business conversations with Greece – with 83% of those expecting to sign contracts with Greek exhibitors at WTM London
Furthermore, 38% predict their company will do more business with Greece in the coming year.
Greece was also popular among members of the trade when it came to their own holidays this year, as it was in the top three destinations for breaks of five nights or more, alongside Italy and Spain.
A similar poll carried out among UK holidaymakers found that almost half (48%) were interested in visiting Greece, which came third on the wish list, behind Italy (60%) and the US (54%).
Tourism to Greece has performed strongly in 2017, as holidaymakers have sought more stable countries.
The Top 100 City Destination Ranking WTM London Edition, by Euromonitor International, released tomorrow (Tuesday 7 November) at WTM London says Greece is benefiting from instability in other countries.
“Spain, Greece and Italy are performing strongly, as they offer a similar climate to affected countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia,” the report reveals.
The report said the Greek city of Heraklion will be the strongest performing city in Europe in 2017, as visitor arrivals are forecast rise by more than 11%, while Athens will see arrivals increase by 10%.
The Greek National Tourism Organisation expects a record-breaking 30 million international visitors to Greece for 2017 – up 7% year-on-year – because the destination has invested in its tourism industry and improved its image overseas.
For the last two years, Greece’s growth has been nearly twice the global industry average of 3.9%.
The GNTO is also sponsoring the WTM London International Media Centre, as it looks to increase its global profile to attract more tourists to the destination.
WTM London’s Paul Nelson, said: “It is encouraging to see Greece rated so highly by the travel trade when it comes to plans for business conversations and deals.
“The positive sentiments for 2018 follow robust growth in 2017 and demonstrate the value of investing in tourism products and marketing.”
For the WTM Industry Report, there were 1,622 respondents, drawn from the trade around the world. For the consumer report, there were 1,025 respondents, who were representative of the UK population, and who had taken at least one holiday this year.
- GNTO stands at WTM London: EU1200, EU1250
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About World Travel Market
World Travel Market (WTM) portfolio comprises five leading B2B events across four continents generating more than $7bn of industry deals. The five events are:
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. Around 51,500 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media visit ExCeL – London every November generating around £2.8 billion of travel industry contracts. http://london.wtm.com/. Next event: 6-8 Nov 2017 – London.
International Golf Travel Market (IGTM) now in its 20th edition, is the meeting place for the global B2B golf travel community. More than 600 golf tourism suppliers join 350 pre-qualified buyers and 100 international press for four days of unmissable pre-scheduled appointments, exclusive networking opportunities and invaluable industry and trend updates. Taking place in a different destination every year, IGTM brings together 1,400 golf tourism professionals from over 65 countries. http://igtm.wtm.com/. Next event: 11-14 Dec 2017 – Cannes.
World Travel Market Latin America now in its fifth edition attracts about 9,000 unique senior executives. The event generates US$ 370 million of new business. Taking place in Sao Paulo Brazil, this show attracts a global audience to meet and shape the direction of the travel industry. More than 7,000 unique visitors attend the event to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry news. http://latinamerica.wtm.com/. Next event: 3-5 April 2018 – Sao Paulo.
World Travel Market Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. Nearly 5,000 travel industry professionals attend Africa’s leading inbound and outbound travel and tourism market. WTM Africa delivers a proven mix of hosted buyers, media, pre-scheduled appointments, on-site networking, evening functions and invited travel trade visitors. http://africa.wtm.com/. Next event: 18-20 April 2018 – Cape Town.
About Arabian Travel Market (ATM) is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2017 attracted almost 40,000 industry professionals, agreeing deals worth US$2.5bn over the four days. The 24th edition of ATM showcased over 2,500 exhibiting companies across 12 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre, making it the largest ATM in its 24-year history. www.arabiantravelmarketwtm.com Next event 22-25 April 2018 – Dubai.
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events business, enhancing the power of face to face through data and digital tools at over 500 events a year, in more than 30 countries, attracting more than 7m participants.
About Reed Travel Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions is the world’s leading travel and tourism event’s organiser with a growing portfolio of more than 22 international travel and tourism trade events in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Our events are market leaders in their sectors, whether it is global and regional leisure travel trade events, or specialist events for meetings, incentives, conference, events (MICE) industry, business travel, luxury travel, travel technology as well as golf, spa and ski travel. We have over 35 years’ experience in organising world-leading travel exhibitions.