Greece remains the most popular holiday destination for Finns, recording a continuous increase in arrivals in recent years, surpassing Spain, which now comes second in the preferences of Finns.
This was confirmed at the international tourism exhibition MATKA TRAVEL FAIR 2025, which was successfully held at the Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Center, Finland from 16 to 19 January 2025.
The Greek National Tourism Organization participated in the exhibition with a 60 sq.m. stand, attracting a large number of visitors, who expressed their love for our country and its gastronomy. The Greek National Tourism Organization’s stand was visited by the Ambassador of Greece to Finland, Ms. Natalia Karageorgou (H.E.), the Ambassador of Cyprus to Finland, etc. Dimitrios Samuel, the Charge d’Affaires of the Greek Embassy in Finland, Mr. Dimitrios Karakonstantis (SPA’), and the Director of the Consular Office, Ms. Efthalia Zacharioudaki, (Department A’DLY).
Finns’ interest in the popular destinations of Crete, Rhodes, and the Cyclades remains strong. However, a large percentage of visitors were also looking for information about new authentic and sustainable destinations in Northern Greece, Thessaly, and the Peloponnese, where they can combine activities in nature and at sea. Also, significant interest was recorded in searching for destinations for family holidays, camping, and ideal destinations during the winter season, while interest in city break destinations such as Athens and Thessaloniki remains stable.
Greece’s first place
According to data announced by the Finnish T.Os Association “Smal.fi” on 14.01.2025 (https://www.smal.fi/fi/topmenu/In-English/Press-releases-and-statistics), in 2024, more than 650,000 packages were made to destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Greece has been in first place as the most popular destination for Finns for many years and the data for 2024 proves the same. Almost 225,000 packages were made to Greece, marking an increase of 7.4% compared to the previous year. The second favorite destination of Finns was Spain, with almost 187,000 packages (an increase of 3.3% compared to 2023).
The co-exhibitors
The co-exhibitors at the GNTO stand at MATKA TRAVEL FAIR 2025 were the Regions of Crete and Central Macedonia, the Halkidiki Tourist Organization, Atrium Hotels & Resorts, and the Federation of Finnish-Greek Associations, which has 18 Associations and 2,000 Finnish members.
During the first day of the Fair, on 16/01/25, the GNTO Scandinavia Service participated in B2B meetings at the Organization’s stand, with representatives of tourism media, tourism professionals as well as with representatives of Travel Organizations that offer tourist packages to Greek destinations.
B2B meetings were also held by representatives of the GNTO co-exhibitors, including the Deputy Regional Governor of Tourism of Crete, Dr. Kyriakos Kotsoglou, and the Deputy Governor of the Regional Unit of Pella Mr. Iordanis Tzamtzis and the Regional Councilor of the Regional Unit of Chania Ms. Sofia Malandraki with professionals from the Finnish and generally Scandinavian market.
According to the organizers, more than 850 exhibitors/co-exhibitors from approximately 70 countries participated in MATKA while visitors exceeded 56,000, recording an increase of 11% compared to last year. The increased number of visitors demonstrates the desire of people to discover new attractive destinations in order to plan their next trips.
Among the exhibitors, are Tour Operators Apollo, NLTG (Tjäreborg), Logi Tours, Neckermann Nordic, as well as state Tourist Organizations of the EU. (Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Portugal, Slovenia, Poland, Malta, etc.) as well as outside the EU (Turkey, Japan, Egypt, Georgia, Thailand, Tunisia, etc.).
The new travel agency Neckermann Nordic, based in Sweden, was launched for the first time at the Matka Travel Fair and offers packages to Greece, where strong demand was also observed for Crete and Rhodes.
Photo caption: From the visit of the Ambassador of Greece to Finland, Ms. Natalia Karageorgou (HRE) – From left: Tina Xanthi, Sales Director, Atrium Hotels & Resorts, Alexandra Gaitanaki, Region of Central Macedonia, Panagiotis Petropoulos, husband of Ambassador Ms. Natalia Karageorgou, Anastasios Diamantakis, Region of Crete, Kyriakos Kotsoglou, Deputy Regional Governor of Tourism of Crete, Maria Zevgoula, Deputy Head of the GNTO Scandinavian Service, Ambassador of Greece to Finland, Ms. Natalia Karageorgou (HRE), Emmanouil Volikakis, Deputy Head of the Tourism Department of the P.E. Chania, Georgios Vroutzas, General Director of the Tourist Organization of Halkidiki, Iordanis Tzamtzis, Deputy Governor of the Prefectural Government of Pella, Vicky Schina, Tourism Office of the Prefectural Government of Pella
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
