ATHENS – It’s the high summer season for Greece and tourists are filling luxury resorts, short-term rentals in Athens and Thessaloniki, boutique hotels on islands, taking ferries and helicopters and seaplanes to some of the country’s most beautiful spots.
But low-paid and high-taxed Greeks – those without family homes in the mountains or islands or the mainland – are going nowhere and increasingly looking more to traveling to other countries in Europe, finding them cheaper.
One couple – Konstantanis and his wife, who both work in the private sector – said they found it was cheaper to go to a one-week holiday in Prague in the Czech Republic or Copenhagen in Denmark than the Aegean island of Tinos.
Northern European destinations are cheaper in the summer, said Kathimerini in a look at the dilemma of many Greeks faced with “staycations” at homes, drives to what’s left of public beaches not taken over by businesses or doing nothing.
While the couple’s income is higher than the average in Greece even the found that vacationing in Greece was too costly for them so they took another look and decided that the island of Corfu was too expensive so picked the Spanish island of Tenerife.
They said it would cost them €1,000 ($1170) less than going to Corfu and Bank of Greece data backs up a trend of Greeks going elsewhere than Greece for vacations for cost reasons, with the government wooing high-income visitors, pushing up prices.
In 2024, Greeks spent €2.8 billion ($3.28 billion) on trips abroad compared to €2.2 billion ($2.57 billion) on vacationing in domestic destinations. In the first six months of 2025, spent about 25 percent more, €1.677 billion ($1.96 billion) to €1.344 billion ($1.57 billion.)
The New Democracy government has twice raised the minimum wage, increased benefits for pensioners and said it’s working to raise salaries to levels closer to the European Union average but the cost-of-living means many are still struggling.
Greece’s emphasis on high-end accommodations is driving up prices across the board for accommodations and ferry boat ticket prices have risen while food and drink prices on popular islands are high.
In a study titled Outgoing Travel Flows in Greece, 2023-2024, the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE) noted that departures for holidays abroad rose 8 percent in 2024, to 6.7 million, and spending up 15 percent, to €2.8 billion ($3.28 billion) showing the trend.
Greeks going outside the country prefer France, Italy, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom even more than neighboring countries such as Bulgaria and Turkey, finding all cheaper than Greece.
