By Ilias Bellos

Demand from foreign tour operators for air seats to Greece this year is showing a year-on-year increase of 21 percent, according to the air carriers schedules.

Existing data point to an extra 3.5 million passengers heading to Greece this year, which will entail a new record for tourism arrivals in 2018 even if the growth in demand for seats does not translate into the same rise in arrivals. Notably, Germany – Greek tourism’s biggest market – is showing a 45 percent increase in demand for seats compared to 2017, according to data presented on Thursday by the research director at the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation, Aris Ikkos.

The recovery of European economies favors growth in tourism arrivals, as even the British and Turkish markets – suffering from the upcoming Brexit and the slide of the Turkish lira respectively – are not showing any decline in air seat planning. The only major drop has been noted in the Russian market, due to the slump of the ruble’s exchange rate against the euro.