The messages from this year’s international tourism exhibition, ITB in Berlin for the destination of Halkidiki in 2025 exude moderate optimism.
So far, demand for the destination has shown a decrease of 5-7% regarding the “Macedonia” airport and the German market, which is due to intense internal competition, as well as the insecurity of Europeans due to geopolitical developments, said the president of the Halkidiki Hotel Association, Mr. Grigoris Tasios, speaking to Tornos News, in the context of the ITB exhibition. However, overall, Halkidiki is expected to move this year at the levels of 2024, he underlined.
At the same time, in the private meetings of the executives of the Halkidiki Tourist Organization with representatives of Jet2 and TUI in the context of ITB, a positive trend in advance bookings was recorded in the English market, with Jet2 continuing to have a double-digit growth rate compared to last year, while TUI is also recording an increase. The remaining foreign markets are also showing positive dynamics.
We are, Mr. Tasios emphasized, in a transitional period from March to April to see how the course of the destination will evolve – mainly in terms of pricing – compared to the South Aegean, Crete, and the Ionian Islands, where only upward trends are observed.
The main markets for Halkidiki in 2025
The main markets for Halkidiki remain Germany, England, and the Netherlands. Italy is recording a significant increase due to the addition of Aegean and easyjet flights, while from the Polish market there are also several contracts with hotels for 150 days via charter, and the presence of the Balkan markets is clearly important, mainly from Romania and Bulgaria.
He also expressed his concern about “an operational cost that has escaped and [which] will be the bet for Greek tourism more broadly, in the competition”, while another factor that will affect tourist traffic in Halkidiki is its peculiarity of also welcoming road tourists for approximately 110 days a year.
Need for more quality beds
One of the issues that emerged, as Mr. Tasios said, is that “we need more quality beds that will provide a differentiation to the Halkidiki product for 6 months, so that we can attract new flights”.
In this way, the influx of more nationalities will be strengthened, but they wish to find stable open beds for open sales 6 months a year, which, due to the Balkan market, is not offered consistently, he stressed.
In addition, 50,000 short-term rental beds officially operate in the destination, of which only 10% are in the air connection market, and the rest are mainly aimed at road tourism, that is, visitors from the Balkans who arrive by car. “If we had these, we could be more optimistic”, stressed the president of the Halkidiki Hotel Association.
Currently, Halkidiki has 49,500 hotel beds, 50,000 short-term rental beds that have been developed in the last 6 years, and 40,000 beds in rental rooms. “There are hotels, but somewhere the issue has become oversaturated, both spatially and in substance, with customers regarding short-term rental,” emphasized the president of the Union.
Regarding the new accommodation fees, which are imposed on visitors, so far there has been a reaction in the market that does not affect the expected arrivals, said Mr. Tasios. “What is required for the next day,” he said, “is to have information from the government with tangible numbers and documented opinions on where this money will be directed.”
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