In the last few years, Greece is attracting an increasing number of tourists from emerging economies. Tourism industry officials claim that Brazilian, Korean, Filipino, Indian and Mexican visitors often spend more money than European tourists.
Santorini Mayor Anastasios-Nikolaos Zorzos said that, in the last few years, the island has been attracting visitors from Asia throughout the year. The island is expected to receive about 20,000 Asian tourists this winter. Apart from the Chinese, the number of tourists from Korea is also increasing. A Korean film was partly shot in Santorini between July 22 and 25, while the film “Beijing Love Story,” also shot in Santorini, was released in China on February 14.
The Greek capital appears to be particularly popular among visitors from South America. Brazilians and Mexicans stop in Athens while on cruise trips and stay up to three nights. It is estimated that they spend considerable sums on food and drinks as well as souvenirs. Brazilians and Mexicans also show a particular preference for historical monuments such as Mycenae, Epidaurus and Olympia.
Attracting visitors from emerging economies and mainly from Asia is a target for many countries around the world and it appears that Greece is doing well. According to a study entitled “Winning the Next Billion Asian Travelers – Starting with China,” carried out by Tripadvisor and Boston Consulting, more than 50% of the increase in global tourism traffic up to 2030 will come from the Asia-Pacific region. A billion people are projected to have annual earnings of more than 15,000 dollars by then and the vast majority will come from China, India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea.
The Chinese are expected to make 1.7 billion trips in the intervening period while their spending is expected to amount to 1.8 trillion dollars. They prefer to travel during low-season months in February, May and October, mainly in Europe.
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