Tourism operators are predicting a boom in international travel following the UK-Greece trade deal.
The two countries signed a new framework to boost trade and digital cooperation on Monday 25 October.
But the agreement is also expected to boost tourism between the UK and Greece. Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias said visitors from Britain to Greece are expected to increase by 35 per cent in 2022 – equivalent to around 3.6 million tourists, matching record figures observed in 2019.
The latest statistics also suggest that holiday bookings for summer 2022 are already on the rise.
“Having met most of the tour operators and airline companies here in the UK… we are very, very optimistic about 2022,” said Mr Kikilias.
Ahead of the agreement, tour operators easyJet and Jet2 both agreed to add capacity to their 2022 flight schedules to Greece.
Reports suggest that easyJet has plans to add around 500,000 more flight tickets to its schedule, while Jet2 will make up to one million more seats available.
As the tenth most popular international destination for UK tourists, a rise in bookings suggests that global tourism may finally be returning to pre-pandemic levels.
It follows news that several other tourism operators plan to expand capacity in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, said the airline will launch more than 500 new routes across Europe by summer 2022, while Europe’s largest operator, Tui, has hinted that reservations for summer holidays have “already surpassed” the level of bookings for the same time in 2019.
For help and advice with related matters, please get in touch with our tourism finance team today.
