Greece has seen a sharp rise in interest of tourists from around the world in the first seven months of the year, says Tourix, a digital marketing agency. It says that in the period January - July 2022, there has been an increase in the total volume of online searches for accommodation in Greek capital Athens by 74 pc compared to 2019 and an increase of 234 pc compared to 2021.

Mediterranean nation Greece has seen an unprecedented rise in online travel demand in the first seven months of the year 2022, with the capital Athens now 234 pc more popular in online search for accommodation than in 2021 and 74 pc higher in demand than even the pre-pandemic period. These are some of the findings of a study by Tourix, a digital marketing agency for travel business.

Tourix says that the strong interest of online travel demand trends continued in July 2022 for top seven Greek destinations namely Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, Naxos, Rhodes and Elounda, as shown by online travel tourism demand data, with several destinations achieving record monthly performance in terms of online searches.

Tourix says that considering that the internet is one of the most important tools used by travellers now in researching and preparing for their trip, including online research / search for accommodation, it is of particular importance to monitor how the trends of online travel demand for accommodation in seven select Greek destinations.

The survey was conducted by Tourix Analytics, a venture of Tourix. The research is based on the volume of searches collected using 16,000 search terms that are directly related to accommodation in the respective destination, it says.

Tourix has presented the highlights of online travel demand trends for Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, Naxos, Rhodes and Elounda.

Athens

According to Tourix, July 2022 saw an all-time sky high record for online demand for accommodation in the Greek capital Athens, which has surpassed even the previous all-time high volume searches in May and June 2022. For the period January-July 2022, there has been an increase in the total volume of online searches for accommodation in Athens by 74 pc compared to 2019 and an increase of 234 pc compared to 2021.

The top countries in terms of searches for accommodation in Athens for the year 2022 are the USA, the UK, followed by France, Germany and Italy. The United States has seen a 106 pc rise in searches for Athens, compared to 2019. The UK is at 76 pc increase and Germany is third with 74 pc growth.

Thessaloniki

The resort beach island of Thessaloniki also registered an all-time high in demand for accommodation in July 2022, slightly surpassing the previous of May, says Tourix. The top countries of origin for online searches in July for accommodation in Thessaloniki were Germany, Romania, Israel and the United Kingdom. Thessaloniki for the period January – July 2022 shows an increase in the total volume of online searches for accommodation by 52 pc compared to 2019 and an increase by 187 pc compared to 2021. Overall, for the first 7 months of 2022, the top countries of those which users searched online were Germany, Cyprus and the United Kingdom, with Romania following a little behind in fourth place.

Santorini

The high interest in online demand for accommodation in Santorini continued in July 2022, slightly lower than those searches carried out in May and June of 2022, which were also the historically record search volumes of online demand for the island. “For the period January-July 2022 we have a significant increase in the total volume of online searches for accommodation in Santorini by 44 pc compared to 2019 and an increase of 89 pc compared to 2021,” says Tourix.

The United Kingdom and the United States continue to top the country’s rankings for Santorini accommodation searches for 2022, followed by France and Italy. The report says that it is worth pointing out that France is experiencing a significant 91 pc increase in online searches compared to 2019.

Mykonos

July 2022 saw an ultimate online demand for accommodation in Mykonos, slightly surpassing searches in June 2022 which was the previous record. The island of Mykonos shows an increased volume of searches in relation to accommodation from most of the countries monitored.

The top countries in terms of searches for accommodation in Mykonos for 2022 are the UK, USA and Italy, with France and Germany rounding at the top five. Compared to 2019, the first seven months of 2022 saw a 47 pc increase in total online search volume, and a 78 pc increase over 2021. The top 3 countries with the largest percentage increase in total search volume for the first seven months of 2022, compared to the corresponding period of 2019, are France with 85 pc increase, the USA with 77 pc increase and Germany at 54 pc increase. In contrast, slightly less online demand for accommodation in Santorini was seen from Israel and Australia.

Naxos

The strong interest in online searches for accommodation in Naxos continues in July, while particularly this month marked the second best performance at a four-year level (after June 2022). For the first seven months of 2022, there is an increase in the total volume of online searches for accommodation in Naxos by 57 pc compared to 2019 and a 77 pc increase compared to 2021. The leading countries in terms of searches for accommodation in Naxos in the period January – July 2022 are Germany, the USA and the United Kingdom, with Italy following fourth. The countries with the largest percentage increase in search volume compared to 2019 are the USA with 85 pc increase, Germany with 60 pc rise and France with 53 pc growth.

Rhodes

As with other parts of Greece, July 2022 saw great online demand for accommodation in Rhodes also, slightly surpassing searches of those in June which was the previous record for Rhodes. The top countries of origin for online searches in July for accommodation in Rhodes were the UK, Germany and France. Tourix highlights the significant increase in searches from the Scandinavian countries for accommodation in Rhodes.

Elounda

For the period January – July 2022, Tourix says it has witnessed a significant increase in the total volume of online searches for accommodation in Elounda by 65 pc ​​compared to 2019 and an increase of 79 pc compared to 2021. The top 2 countries in terms of online searches for accommodation in Elounda are the UK and Germany, followed closely by France and the US.