Greece ranks first among best destinations to travel in May

Now that the weather is changing, you are all getting restless, and it’s time to discover a new corner of the globe, says the leading travel magazine Conde-Nast traveler and suggests top 6 destinations to travel.

Greece ranks first among magazine’s best destinations to travel in May!

Photo of the day: me, you and the sunset..

Plakias is 35 kilometres south of Rethymno, on the southern coast of Crete on the Libyan Sea and is a popular tourist resort well-known for its award-winning Blue Flag sandy beach stretching for 1400 metres.

It is not too large, and so retains the traditional Cretan friendliness, but it is big enough to have a good range of accommodation, tavernas, shops etc.

http://www.plakiassuites.com/

Video escape: planning a vacation?

Destination: Plakias.. a nice evening in April!

 

Plakias is a small fishing village and produces sunset like this!Plakias is 35 kilometres south of Rethymno, on the southern coast of Crete on the Libyan Sea and is a popular tourist resort well-known for its award-winning Blue Flag sandy beach stretching for 1400 metres.

 http://www.plakiassuites.com/

Large rise in German bookings for Greek islands

According to data released by TravelTainment, the Greek islands experienced a large increase in bookings from the German market, while bookings for the Turkish Riviera have dropped substantially.

 Traveltainment is an online service monitoring the bookings of 10 of Germany’s largest travel agencies, tour operators and online tourist booking services for the most popular travel destinations of German nationals.

The airport of Heraklion, Crete will have a 50+ percent rise in bookings from German tourists, while that of Rhodes is expected to see a 37+ percent increase.

Heraklion made a noteworthy spike in January bookings of 25 percent, while Rhodes also saw a 37 percent increase in February.

Turkey, a competitor of Greece in the tourist industry, saw a 40 percent fall in its bookings for the Turkish Riviera.
(source:protothema)

Photo of the day: Summer is coming..

Today at Plakias!

Plakias is 35 kilometres south of Rethymno, on the southern coast of Crete on the Libyan Sea and is a popular tourist resort well-known for its award-winning Blue Flag sandy beach stretching for 1400 metres.

It combines everything as it offers visitors many facilities: surgery, pharmacy, all kinds of shops, car hire, post office, ATM, many tavernas, exciting nightlife, organized beaches (Souda, Damnoni, Ammoudi, Schinaria), diving centre, free-riding centre, and an extensive marina where even large yachts can berth.

//http://www.plakiassuites.com/

China Expresses Interest in Crete’s Products and Tourism

China has expressed interest in importing agricultural products of Crete, especially the island’s olive oil and wine.

The interest was shown by a high-level delegation of China, led by the deputy governor of Hubei Province XuKezhen, while visiting the Region of Crete on Monday.

The Chinese delegation was welcomed by Crete Prefect Stavros Arnaoutakis and the region’s vice governors Evripidis Koukiadakis, Theano Vrentzou and Virginia Manasaki.

During the meeting, Mr XuKezhen expressed his admiration for the history, culture, and natural beauty of Crete and estimated that the next decade will see a rapid increase in Chinese tourists in Europe and Greece.

On his part, Mr Arnaoutakis noted that there is a close cooperation between the region and the Embassy of China in Athens.

“However, what we seek is efficient agreements from the Chinese side in connection with exporting Cretan products in the Chinese market”, he said.

“What also interests us is that there may be positive developments in relation to the increase in tourism from China to Crete,” Crete’s prefect added.

The representative of the Chinese entrepreneurs Wen Zhengfn informed Mr Arnaoutakis on China’s interest in importing Cretan products, especially olive oil and wine for which Crete is famous for.

“We are also interested in tourism and we are optimistic that our compatriots will prefer Greece and Crete for holidays in the coming years”, he added.

Hubei is a province of the People’s Republic of China in central China with a population of some 57 million inhabitants.
(source:gtp)

DRV: The Germans are Still Coming to Greece

The German Travel Association (DRV) on Thursday reported a 40 percent drop in bookings to Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey this summer due to safety concerns.

Meanwhile, bookings to Greece are still on good levels, despite the arrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees on the country’s islands.

“Of course there are some islands that are particularly affected such as Lesvos and Kos. But overall we see a decent growth in Greece”, DRV’s president Norbert Fiebig told reporters.

According to Mr Fiebig, destinations that were once popular, such as Egypt and Tunisia, have suffered a series of attacks, forcing tour companies such as TUI and Thomas Cook to seek alternative destinations.

DRV’s president said that bookings for summer holidays in Turkey are down by 40 percent year-on-year and that there is a similar drop in Egypt and Tunisia, while in some areas, the decrease is slightly greater.

However, he added that bookings for the three destinations have improved significantly in the last two weeks.

“Our goal is for the total of bookings to not drop significantly lower than the levels of 2015. But that depends almost entirely on how these three markets will evolve, especially Turkey and Egypt,” he said.
(source:gtp)