The Cyclades and Dodecanese registered impressive tourism sector recoveries in August, compared to a year earlier, doubling their total number of international arrivals at five airports – Rhodes, Kos, Karpathos, Mykonos and Santorini – serving the areas.
This August proved to be one-hundred percent up on figures registered for the equivalent month a year earlier, reaching 833,720 international arrivals compared to 421,708 in August, 2020.
More specifically, international arrivals at Rhodes airport, through direct flights, reached 378,178 in August, a 98 percent increase compared to August, 2020; Kos airport registered 191,174 international arrivals, up 79 percent; Karpathos airport’s arrivals figure for August totaled 14,949, a 346 percent increase; arrivals from abroad at Mykonos airport rose to 114,613, an 83 percent increase; and Santorini registered 135,822 international arrivals, up 237 percent compared to August, 2020.
During the pandemic’s second summer season, over 14,500 flights carried passengers bound for the wider south Aegean islands area, reaching more than two million, or one third of the country’s total.
Also taking into account passengers reaching the south Aegean islands via Athens International Airport, the total number of international arrivals in June and July reached 155,394, or 57,625 in June and 97,769 in July, taking this region’s total for the five aforementioned airports to 2,082,993 for the second year of the pandemic. It should be pointed out that this tally does not include travellers reaching the five regional south Aegean airports indirectly via Athens International Airport in August, the summer’s busiest month, and passengers arriving to the south Aegean through ferryboat lines.
Biggest markets per island in August
Once again, in August, tourists from Germany represented the biggest number of international arrivals to the south Aegean, reaching 181,162. German tourists topped the arrivals per country list for Rhodes and Kos, and were ranked third for Santorini and fourth for Mykonos.
British tourists represented the second biggest market for Rhodes in August, up from eighth in July. British tourists also registered August increases for Kos and Mykonos, ranking third for both islands, and climbed one place, to fourth, for Santorini, compared to the previous month.
The Polish market remained a significant source for Rhodes and Kos, capturing third and fourth places, respectively, as well as for Santorini, where tourists from Poland were ranked fifth in total. Rhodes’ top five list – besides Germany, the UK and Poland – was completed by Italian and French tourists, while the tally of travellers from the Netherlands trailed closely behind.
Swiss tourists represented the fifth biggest number of arrivals from abroad to Kos, behind the aforementioned German, Dutch, British and Polish travellers.
Mykonos and Santorini presented tourism-source similarities in first and second place, held by Italian and French arrivals for both islands, followed by the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Spain for Mykonos, and Germany, the UK, Poland, Switzerland and Austria for Santorini.
