Greek holiday bookings from UK for 2018 up by over 10 pct

Elafonisi - www.west-crete.com

eKathimerini — London’s World Travel Market this month offered some fresh positive signs regarding British visitors to Greece next year.

Although they constitute a small sample, early bookings point to a further increase in UK visitors in 2018, while in some cases the growth rate is in the double digits. Officials at leading British tour operator Thomas Cook say that at the moment their bookings for Greece are showing a 12 percent increase from the same time last year.

It is also estimated that Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has not had a negative impact on Britons’ Greek holiday plans in 2018, while the recent adjustment of the exchange rate of the British pound against the euro to higher levels is seen as benefiting Greece and other Mediterranean destinations.

Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) president Yiannis Retsos notes that “the UK bookings picture so far appears improved from last year, which serves to confirm the strength and the outward-looking character of tourism enterprises that keep them competitive in international markets.”

Britons accounted for 11.3 percent of all tourism arrivals last year.