Digital research by INSETE  in collaboration with the Municipality of Athens shows that the visitor experience recorded this summer is expected to have a major impact on Greece’s reputation as a whole, and that The competitiveness of Greece and Athens as destinations remains high.

For June, the following results emerged from the analysis:

Athens’ online reputation came to 62 points (+10 points above Greece overall), and the volume of conversations carried out on online media about Greece and Athens continued to increase in June.

In terms of reputation based on the destination experience (based on factors like accommodation, dining and attractions), despite the slight “typical” decrease that occurs when a destination’s visitation increases, Greece has maintained its score at 9.0 for three consecutive months, continuing to exceed the European average (8.6).

Research revealed that at 52, Greece’s overall “net sentiment” score was significantly higher (by 12 points) than Spain’s, equal to Portugal’s, and marginally behind Italy’s (at 1 point lower).

Conversations related to the pandemic remained stable in relation to Greece and those about Athens showed a slight increase. The lifting of restrictive measures for dealing with the pandemic continued to be a popular discussion topic, while flight cancellations and chaotic situations at European airports due to staff shortages emerged as dominant issues.

For the second quarter of 2022, the following results emerged:

In terms of overall reputation during the second quarter of 2022, in a volatile global and European context where most destinations face similar challenges (labour shortages, inflation, over-tourism, etc), Greece and Athens managed to maintain their competitiveness thanks to a multi-layered positive sentiment shared by visitors and online opinion leaders (ambassadors) in relation to the culture, nature, gastronomy and accommodation in these destinations.

In the second quarter of the year, when tourism activity and thus the number of online reviews usually grows, there are downward trends in the visit-based experience rating for most destinations in Europe. In this context, Greece, for the third consecutive quarter, maintained its competitiveness while outperforming the European averages.

Greece’s image is not affected by the war in Ukraine in terms of destination attractiveness. The war is part of the debate around its impact on inflation and prices for visitors.

With information from moneyreview.gr.