Greece, Spain, and Turkey attract tourists to travel south as they turn off the heat

After two pandemic years, Greece is making a comeback with a blockbuster summer tourism season, as it remains one of the top summer vacation destinations for Europeans who are especially fond of its large islands such as Rhodes, Crete, and Corfu.

Around a quarter of the Greek economy and one in five people work in the tourism sector. Greek advertising campaigns focused on the country’s low prices and abundance of sunny weather, which resulted in interest from Europeans to spend their winter in southern Europe or Turkey.

With the disruption of Russian gas supplies to Europe since the start of the Ukraine war, the price of gas in German households is on average 173% higher than it was a year ago. Inflation in Germany is also higher than it’s been in years, and although the winter has been mild so far, it can’t compete with Greece’s 250 days of sunshine.

Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias toured Europe last autumn, stopping in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and Stockholm in an effort to get Europeans to spend the winter in Greece. However, transportation to Greece in the winter months is an issue as there are no direct flights from Europe to Crete, and current flights are more expensive than a year ago.

Swiss tour operator Bentour has been targeting tourists in German-speaking countries this winter, and said that they’ve already received many bookings for Greece this coming summer, but that clients choose to go elsewhere in winter. The company, which specializes in trips to Turkey for the German-speaking market, is also using the high heating cost angle to attract long-term winter tourists.

“Now it’s time to switch off the heating, reduce energy costs and head out into the sun,” reads one ad campaign. Long-term vacations — trips of longer than three weeks — have been more popular than expected. Bentour counts anyone under the age of 65 traveling longer than 21 days as likely ‘workation’ booker — someone who has the possibility to work while on the vacation or combine a vacation with some days of work.

Around 8,000 workation clients booked trips with Bentour this winter. The most popular destination is Turkey, in particular Antalya. This is largely due to the flight volume and the low value of the lira, which means the euro goes far. Turkey remains a popular winter destination with retired people due to its excellent healthcare facilities.

The Canary Islands, with their pleasant year-round temperature, have also been targeting long-term vacationers. Since 2020, the archipelago has been targeting digital nomads and will launch a digital nomad visa early this year. Nelleke Meijer from the Netherlands started an online community for digital nomads, expats, local entrepreneurs, and remote workers in Gran Canaria, where she says this year has been busier than ever — especially at their weekly meet-up. “So many new people coming all the time of all ages and from all countries.”