October sees rising air arrivals change course

The upward trajectory of Greek tourism arrivals came to a halt in October with the country’s main airports reporting a 1.2 percent annual decline after 29 months of growth, according to data processed by the Association of Hellenic Tourism Enterprises (SETE).

Notably, when Athens International Airport’s figures are excluded, regional airports posted a decline of 4.1 percent year-on-year last month. SETE data show that there hadn’t been a decline in arrivals on an annual basis since April 2013.

In response to that drop after a two-and-a-half-year rise, SETE spoke of the need for “an acceleration in the good cooperation of all competent entities and the Tourism Ministry so that the set of measures the association has proposed to shield the Greek tourism product materializes before the beginning of the next tourism season.”

The biggest drop among island destinations last month was observed by those receiving the largest numbers of refugees and immigrants crossing from the Turkish coast: Mytilene International Airport had 38.4 percent fewer arrivals from abroad, while Kos Airport reported a 19.2 percent decline. Athens posted a rise of 5.4 percent, and Santorini enjoyed 17.7 percent growth.