UK visitors to Greece on the rise

Greece saw 2.3 million arrivals from the UK in 2015, an increase of 14.7 per cent compared to 2014. The total number of inbound visitors to Greece increased by 7.1 per cent to 23.6 million, according to data from the Bank of Greece. For more information, please see here.

EasyJet launches new route to Zakynthos, Greece

EasyJet has announced a new route to the island of Zakynthos from London Stansted Airport. The route will operate weekly throughout the summer with the first flights commencing on 28 May 2016. The route is expected to be popular among leisure passengers and the airline hopes to fly 5,400 passengers between the destinations annually. For more information, please see here.

Greece and Athens' airports receive record visitors

A total of 1.8 million passengers passed through Greek airports in January, up 11.5 percent compared to the same month in 2015, which had handled 1.6 million passengers, according to data released by the Civil Aviation Authority. The highest passenger traffic during January 2016 was recorded at the airports of Athens, Thessaloniki, Chania, Heraklion and Rhodes. For more information, please see here.

Athens International Airport welcomed a record number of passengers in February, serving 1.07 million passengers, 18.2 percent more compared to February 2015. This came after a record breaking January for the airport. For more information, please see here.

Kuoni Includes Greece in its Top 10 short haul destination list

Kuoni has included Greece among its Top 10 short-haul destinations for 2016 in its latest worldwide travel trends report. The report also mentions that islands including Santorini and Mykonos have some of the best five-star hotels on the market, appealing especially to the honeymoon sector. Greece is 19th on Kuoni's Top 20 honeymoon destinations list for 2016. For more information please see here.

Ikaria promoting sustainable tourism

Ikaria-based arts and educational centre, Ikarian Centre, has unveiled a new volunteer and conservation project. Taking place from 4- 16 June, 'Project Pathways' aims to bring together volunteers and nature enthusiasts to promote sustainable tourism on the island. For 12 days, a team of volunteers will be working at Arethousa to reopen pathways and signpost hiking paths leading to a beach that is currently only accessible by sea. The goal is to provide trekkers and more adventurous hikers maximum access to the area with minimal environmental impact. For more information, please see here.

Five famous Greek chefs take over The Real Greek in London

The Real Greek and Tonia Baxton are teaming up exclusively with Greece's finest chefs from Cookoovaya, one of the most talked about restaurants in Athens. For one night only, The Real Greek at Bankside will bring the Cookoovaya experience to London and welcomes chefs Spyros and Vangelis Liakos, Pericles Koskinas, Nikos Karathanos and Manos Zournatzis to cook up 'Wise Cuisine', a four course gastronomic feast to excite the taste buds. This special evening on Tuesday 19 April will be hosted by Tonia Buxton, the face of Greek food in the UK and presenter of the award winning 'My Greek Kitchen' TV series. For more information, please see here.

Travel Trade Athens 2016 returns: 2-3 October 2016

This year's Travel Trade Athens event, the signature annual trade event for the Greek capital, will focus on congress tourism. In its fourth year, the trade event will host selected international buyers focused on Athens and Greece. The event will host over 85 tourism professionals, including tour operators and conference organizers alongside journalists from the United States and Europe.

Travel Trade Athens 2016 is scheduled to take place 2-3 October in the Greek capital and will be organized by the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency through the Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) with the cooperation of the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA). For more information, please see here.

Athens voted second Best European Destination for 2016.

Facing competition from 20 other destinations, Athens has been voted the second 'Best European Destination 2016'. From over 288,000 responses, Athens received over 46,000 online votes finishing behind Zadar in Croatia. From the iconic Acropolis, rising above the city, to charming up and coming neighborhoods and contemporary art galleries, the city of Classic Marathon and Olympic Games is a majestically quirky clash of past and present.

European Best Destinations is a Brussels-based organisation aimed at promoting culture and tourism in Europe. For more information, please see here.

Greek hotels commended in TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice awards

TripAdvisor has included two Greek hotels it its global top 25 hotels for 2016 as part of its Travellers' Choice awards. The travel site included The Achtis Hotel located in Afitos, Kassandra and the Canaves Oia Hotel in Oia on Santorini. Travellers also placed several Greek hotels on TripAdvisor's 2016 lists for top accommodation in the world and Europe including B&Bs and Inns, Luxury, Service and Small Hotels. The Travellers' Choice award winners are determined based on the millions of reviews and opinions collected in a single year from TripAdvisor travellers worldwide. For more information, please see here. 

The Westin Resort Costa Navarino targets family tourism

The Westin Resort Costa Navarino has announced a new family program named The Westin Family. The strategy is in response to the growing global demand of family travel and the evolving needs of family travellers today. With multigenerational family travel on the rise, the program specifically caters to the way modern families travel. The hotel has launched a range of new three day packages to promote the program. For more information, please see here.  

Greece hotels outperforms rival destinations throughout 2015

Greek hotels received a higher satisfaction rating at 84.5% in 2015 outperforming their competitors' 81.5%, according to the General Satisfaction Index (GRI: Global Review Index) data released by the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE Intelligence). Accommodation in the northern Greece region of Epirus stood out with a satisfaction rating of 89.3 percent, followed by the Cyclades at 88 % percent. For more information, please see here.

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For further press information, please contact: Tim Thackray, Lotus UK, T: 020 7953 7470 E: Tim@wearelotus.co.uk or Panos Papadopoulos, Greek National Tourism Organisation, GNTO UK & Ireland Office, T: 020 74959311, E: pr@gnto.co.uk