HOLIDAY bookings to Greece have bounced back following a round of price cutting by tour operators.
The outbreak of war in Kosovo caused a slump in bookings initially, with operators reporting a downturn of around 20% (Travel Weekly May 10).
However, AC Nielsen booking figures for the January-April period show that business to Greece is up 16%, compared with the previous year. The figure was 17% at the end of March, when the Kosovo crisis began. The overall UK outbound market was 3% down at the end of April in comparison with 1998.
Hellenic Tourism Organisation director Panos Argyros said: “Most operators are reporting booking strength, although there has been some discounting within the market to assist the upturn.
“One or two weeks ago, people were saying Greece was dangerous. But when tour operators started discounting, the fear went away.”
Argyros said discounts offered to UK holidaymakers had ranged between 15% and 30%, plus there had been some very good deals to secure late bookings on charter flights.
Thomson was reporting a 10% increase in bookings this year, and Unijet a 30% rise, he said. Meanwhile, Golden Sun, Kosmar, Manos and Sunworld were also experiencing growth.
Altogether, around 80% of capacity in Greece has now been sold, according to Argyros. Kos, Rhodes and Crete are almost reaching full, but there is still space in Corfu, Skiathos, and the mainland resort of Halkidiki.
Greece attracted 2.2m UK visitors in 1998, and Argyros is confident that his forecast of 2.5m can be reached in 1999.