Athens as a tourism destination improves in terms of visitors’ satisfaction

Athens is apparently emerging as a “must-see destination” among the world’s holiday makers, according to at least one recent study commissioned and presented this week by the Athens-Attica-Argosaronic Hotel Association and the Athens International Airport (AIA), with the former representing hoteliers and motel operators in the greater Athens area and several nearby isles.

The 18th consecutive study again assesses visitors’ satisfaction with accommodations, with the latest results giving the sector an 8.4 score for 2022; up from 8.1 in 2019, the last pre-pandemic season.

Moreover, the same study cited 10 general profiles of visitors to Athens in 2022, among a sample of 2,000 respondents. One interesting bloc of arrivals, roughly one-third of respondents, said they didn’t have a particular itinerary or specific interest point in visiting the Greek capital. This was termed as the “loose approach”, a departure from the usual attempts to see as many sights as possible.

Such “laid-back” visitors appear as the most satisfied among tourists, assessing their experience at 8.4, out of a possible 10. The “down side” is that this group of visitors, on average, spends less per capita.

Despite differences in demographics and interests, practically all foreign visitors to Athens – including people on business trips – share a few common characteristics, namely, visits to the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum, combined with strolls through the nearby Plaka old quarter and the adjacent Monastiraki square.

Elsewhere, coastal Athens’ popularity is also growing, with 63 percent of hotel guests in the Greek capital visiting at least one nearby beach. Visitors’ knowledge of the nearby Saronic islands – Aegina, Hydra, Agistri etc – is also growing, but still remains at low levels.

Arrivals from “traditional markets” – UK, US, Germany, France and Italy – form the bulk of holiday-makers, although a significant new development is the high percentage of arrivals to Athens from non-traditional markets, such as Switzerland, Israel, the Netherlands, Austria, Turkey and Serbia.