Advantage for Trikala and Drama their theme parks
The holidays of Christmas and the New Year (up to and including the Lights) is always a stimulating period for the tourism industry, especially for businesses operating in mountainous and winter destinations in general. Destinations are flooded – mostly by Greeks – with some remaining consistently popular but this no longer stops people from traveling, choosing new destinations that are slowly rising up the demand list, resulting in a diffusion of visitors and growth in more areas .
This year Trikala and Drama have the priority as their theme parks are a brand for the region and a pole of attraction.
Sta Trikala, the “Mill of the Elves”, which has been operating for the 13th year, attracts such a large number of visitors that they fill the hotels of all of Thessaly, as Haris Tsavlos, project manager of the Mill, says speaking to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency. “Last year our visitors reached 1.5 million and this year we hope to surpass this number, as our product is enriched every year and becomes even more attractive,” he will say.
At Drama “Dream Town” receives more than 80,000 visitors but this year it is expected to move much better, as the theme park has been completely renewed after 20 years and people will see a different image, according to Aggelos Kallias, president of the Hotel Association of Drama and c.c. of POX.
“Drama will do well, “Dream Town” has been renewed, this year it has a different image, with new games, actions, etc. and it has a different aura. “Dream Town” receives about 80,000 visitors but the important thing is that it has started to attract people from the Balkans as well, mainly from Bulgaria. They are of the same religion and have holidays at the same time as us. Most of them come on the same day, but they also add to the overnight stays”, notes Mr. Kallias.
More generally, in the country’s destinations, occupancy per region and depending on the destination will range from 75 to 95%, according to Mr. Kallias. Among the popular destinations is Volos, due to the events and the Christmas atmosphere.
“However, there is concern about operating costs as it is very difficult to raise prices – which are stable compared to last year – while fuel, raw materials and salary costs have gone up”, he adds and completes: “In general, people choose destinations that either have some theme parks or ski resorts”.
And in the prefecture of Pieria, where tourism moves at a good pace both in summer and in winter, this year’s festive season is expected to be even better than last year’s with more than 90% occupancy, as reported by the president of the Hotel Association of the prefecture of Iraklis Tsitlakidis. Litochoro, at the foot of Mount Olympus, Elatochori with its ski center and the entire wider area has many options for winter tourism and is very close to the large urban center of Thessaloniki.
Also high on the list and mainly for the residents of Athens who want to “escape” during the holidays, in addition to Arachova and Karpenissi, are also the mountainous destinations of the Peloponnese, it was noted in APE BEE.
As pointed out by Professor Constantinos Marinakos, vice-president of POX and president of the Peloponnese Tourism Promotion Organization, again this year priority is given to the mountainous destinations of the Peloponnese, especially mountainous Achaia and especially Kalavryta, mountainous Arcadia and mainly the popular villages of Dimitsana , Stemnitsa, Langadiou and Vytina and the mountainous Corinthia and mainly the area around Trikala Corinthia.
However, now there is also a demand for other destinations, a trend that was born after the pandemic and led the world to discover new places, with the result that a better dispersion of visitors is gradually observed in places such as Mountain Arcadia, Zatuna, Levidi, Karytaina, Elliniko, Chrysovitsi, which are excellent destinations that start to enter the list during the holidays.
“On the three days of the holidays, occupancy will be very high, we estimate that they will exceed 85%, but our permanent concern is what will happen the rest of the time. Despite the fact that the days of the holidays are the basis for covering a series of expenses for the mountain destinations, however, the profitability is based on the extension of their operation due to the high costs”, Mr. Marinakos underlines.
“We should stop talking about strictly winter tourism in the sense of ski resorts and focus on mountain, thematic tourism based on the logic of the four seasons. We have good practices from Europe that we can follow. For example, the ski resorts of Kalavryta and Mainalos cannot compete with the big ski resorts of Greece and the Balkans, so the actions that take place, such as some festivals and others, are efforts that must be intensified and bring people even outside the winter season. Many now choose mountain destinations in the summer as well, there is this trend but the professionals must be activated as well as the appropriate infrastructure must be created”, he adds.
Epirus is also among the top destinations for the festive season, with Zagorochoria, Metsovo, Tzoumerka and Konitsa being the first to be preferred.
“This year we start earlier and fill up for the holidays, but the goal remains to have tourism all year round. An important advantage for our region are the ski centers in Anilio, Metsovo and Vasilitsa, which attract a lot of people. As far as Ioannina is concerned – and I am referring to the Ioannina basin – on the days of the holidays, the visitors exceed 20,000”, points out the president of the Ioannina Hoteliers’ Union, Spyros Sourelis.
