Preparations for the next tourist season in Crete are already underway. The recently concluded season proved highly successful for Ierapetra and its surrounding areas, rivalling the previous one in terms of overnight stays. Hotel and lodging incomes also saw notable improvements.
Contracts signed by hospitality units since August 2024 indicate that the 2025 season will continue this positive trend. Bookings, primarily from Germany and France, are rising, showing a promising pace.
Hotels across the area increased their revenues compared to last year by avoiding heavy discounts, a strategy seen in other regions. Some hotels surpassed their performance from 2019, while others matched last year’s occupancy levels. With preparations for the 2025 season already in motion, agreements with travel agencies began in August 2024.
Optimistic Outlook for Crete Tourism in 2025
According to Giorgos Vardakis, president of the Ierapetra and Southeast Crete Hotel Association, if geopolitical issues stay at bay, the upcoming tourist period appears as promising as the current one.
However, a significant issue persists: a need for more skilled and unskilled hotel workers, exacerbated by limited tourism education and low interest in what are perceived as seasonal jobs in service, kitchens, and housekeeping.
Extending the Tourist Season
Efforts to prolong the previously six-month tourist season have borne fruit, with the season now lasting seven months. The area has bounced back to regular patterns post-pandemic, finishing each season positively.
A variety of tourists, including Germans, French, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, and a few Scandinavians, are expected to frequent the area. Due to new charter flights from the Sitia airport, increased numbers are expected in 2025. British travel agencies are also planning to reintroduce British tourists to the area.
Private tourism continues to grow annually. Many Italian visitors arrive independently, using platforms for bookings, and typically cook in rented villas and lodges, exploring Crete by renting cars from Heraklion.
Favourable Prospects Despite Global Challenges
Agreements with travel agencies initiated in August 2024 reflect the promising future of Greek tourism in 2025, despite external pressures such as high inflation in European countries and geopolitical tensions in Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Red Sea.
Industry optimism about the future is evident in rising flight bookings and the agreements hotels and businesses have already forged.
