ATHENS – Greece’s push to get tourists to come year round for attractions other the summer of beaches, swimming and islands is paying off with demand growing for the autumn and winter, and city breaks.
Europe’s biggest tourism services provider, TUI AG, said that Greece is particularly in demand for the off-peak time, along with Turkey, the company’s CEO Sebastian Ebel saying it’s in talks with hotel owners to stay open longer in the year.
“We are designing new offers for the post-peak season period and we aim to keep available hotels in Greece and Turkey until January,” Ebel said, with Turkey a key competitor with Greece for tourists.
TUI brings more than 3 million visitors annually to Greece and wants to expand with new tourism packages catering to changing news and alternative attractions and visitors wanting to avoid the heat and crowds and high summer prices.
“Europeans are not prepared to compromise on travel; they increasingly prefer quieter destinations and off-peak travel,” said Miguel Sanz, President of the European Travel Commission of the changing trends.
