Businessmen in Mykonos are changing their way due to reduced visitors to the island of the Winds. Increased prices in restaurants and Airbnb-style accommodation have caused a financial shock to tourists.

Little by little, Mykonos is losing the momentum it had gained in recent years as a tourist destination. The first numbers appear below expectations and show a significant decline both in terms of receipts and arrivals.

The traffic drops noticeably due to high prices but the prevailing tendency of tourists to look for so-called “value for money”, i.e. places that are worth visiting but without having to empty your bank account.

Airbnbs

Mykonos, therefore, enters the “game” of sales next season, in an attempt to attract tourists by providing financial incentives in view of a very difficult tourist season.

Business circles of the island, speaking to OT, report that the “heavy wallets” have left Mykonos and… are traveling to Tinos, Syros, Serifos and Sifnos. Or they even prefer to experience the Greek summer in other popular Greek islands, such as Rhodes, Crete and Corfu.

The exorbitant prices on accommodation on the cosmopolitan island have led Airbnb owners to slash prices by 20%-30% due to an unprecedented drop in bookings in May and June. Prices in hotels and villas have been significantly reduced in order to attract tourists to visit the island again.

Last year, the pre-bookings for July and August for Airbnb-type villas were around 95%, while this year, in the same period, they are at 80%.

For example, the cost for six nights in a villa of 190 sq.m. with three bedrooms it is around 3,000 euros in July and 4,000 euros in August. Whereas last year, in the same months, it reached 3,600 euros and 4,800 euros respectively.

According to the Airbnb platform, the average price per night in the most popular destinations in Greece and Europe for August finds Greece to be significantly more expensive.

For example, the average price per night in Ibiza is 302 euros, while in Mykonos it is 532 euros. The average price per night in Corsica is 158 euros, while in Paros it is 261 euros. The average price per night in Saint Tropez is 245 euros, while in Paxos it is 410 euros.

According to data from the Airbnb platform, demand appears reduced compared to last year in Mykonos (-15% in July and -9% in August) and Santorini (-3% in July and -6% in August).

Arrivals

Foreign arrivals at Mykonos airport in May were among the lowest in the last six years after the years 2020 and 2021 when the restrictive measures to deal with the coronavirus pandemic were in place.

In more detail, international passenger traffic in May this year amounted to 67,122 passengers, a number reduced by -17.5% compared to 81,323 passengers in the corresponding month of 2022.

The drop is even greater and reaches 22.6% if compared to the international traffic of 2019, which had reached 86,719 passengers.

Compared to 2018, the decline is less than 7.7% with international passengers in May of that year standing at 72,768

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