Greek tourism boom boosts bargain hunters
Photo credit: Adam Balch
300,000 more tourists with the TUI travel group are expected to visit Greece next year compared to 2013, taking the total number of visitors to over 2 million. Indeed, the country is already anticipating a record 18 million foreign visitors in 2014, without a record-breaking summer this year setting the positive trend.
This boom in tourism has boosted the number of bargain hunters in the property market, according to one agent. Indeed, property prices in Greece are currently 31 per cent below their market peak, making the country’s holiday homes more affordable; an opportunity too good for many to resist thanks to Greece’s combination of sun, sea and sand.
Luke Smith, Managing Director of Crystal Investment and Real Estate, tells TheMoveCHannel.com: “We have certainly seen an upsurge in bargain-hunters interested in investing in real estate in Greece from UK and international investors. The market in holiday properties is reasonably buoyant.”
He adds that they expect to see an increase in non-EU buyers too, attracted by the offer of residency permits in exchange for investing a minimum of €250,000 in Greek real estate.
Crystal’s reports of an increase in activity follows Greece’s rise in popularity on TheMoveChannel.com this month, with the country climbing into the portal’s top 10 destinations for the first time in 11 months.
Other travel and tourism news this week:
Spain welcomes record number of tourists
A record-breaking 8.3 million tourists went to Spain in August 2013, according to new figures – 7.1 per cent higher than August 2012 and the highest number since records began in 1995.
Spain’s tourism ministry attributed the increase partly to holidaymakers avoiding popular budget destinations such as Egypt and Turkey.
Catalonia enjoyed the biggest surge, with Barcelona and the surrounding beaches welcoming 2.3 million foreign visitors. Tourism remains a strong beacon of positivity within the country’s wider financial landscape, accounting for 11 per cent of its economy.
Source: The Telegraph
Cyprus tourism figures on the slide
The number of tourists visiting Cyprus is on the slide this year, according to new figures. 1.63 million visitors arrived on the island between January and August 2013, a drop of 5.3 per cent from 2012, as the country’s recent economic crisis deterred holidaymakers. The number of German and British tourists fell 36 per cent and 13 per cent respectively, reports the Cyprus Mail.
“Maybe there were concerns there would be social upheaval like in Greece,” Lakis Avramides, of the Famagusta tourism marketing board, suggested to the newspaper.