The South Aegean Region Governor, George Hadjimarkos, had a working meeting with representatives of the management of the British tourism group Jet2, one of the leading tourism organizations of the market, with the main subject of discussion being the preparation of the next tourist season of 2023.

“We believe in this region”

“We are increasing our air capacity to the South Aegean islands because we believe in this region: From 203,000 airline seats in 2019, to 379,000 in 2022 (an 87% increase) and from these to 410,000 for next year, 2023, at the disposal of visitors to the South Aegean”.

This announcement was made before the South Aegean Region’s head of the group’s airports and tourism organizations, Janice Mather, together with her team, in the presence of Mr. Chrysochoidis, the Region’s Executive Advisor for Tourism Development and Dr. Giannis Fotis, the Region’s special advisor for advertising promotion.

New 10% increase

This is a very optimistic forecast for the next tourist season, since after the very strong year of 2022, when we saw an 87% increase in airline seats compared to the milestone year of 2019, the company strengthens its vote of confidence in the Cyclades and Dodecanese with a further 10% increase for next year, contrary to the ominous forecast linked to the difficulties in the international environment, such as the energy crisis and inflationary pressures.

“Confidence in a mature and serious destination”

“The additional growth in bookings after a very strong year reflects the confidence of a leading tourism organisation in a mature and serious destination that has prepared methodically and worked hard to succeed through the most difficult period in tourism history.

“During the difficult years of the pandemic, we proved in practice that the South Aegean Islands are the number one tourist destination in the world and today we are enjoying the fruits of this collective effort.”

“Another great result is this confidence we developed as a tourist organization that moves hundreds of thousands of visitors to our islands, a fact that leads into a further increase in airline seats for 2023,” added the South Aegean Region Governor.

Connection with smaller islands

Another interesting point of discussion was the cooperation for closer connection between the larger and smaller islands of the Region.

In conclusion, Mather stressed the important role that the management plan played for tourism professionals and their clients in 2020, in different sectors such as staff training, quarantine hotels, etc. and the responsible and unified representation of the destinations to the media, tourist agencies and visitors in a year full of legitimate concerns.

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