A quiet but powerful shift is reshaping summer travel in the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkish visitors are arriving in record numbers on a cluster of Greek islands, driven by a simplified visa-on-arrival program that has turned short-haul Aegean travel into one of the region’s fastest-growing tourism stories of 2026.
The scheme, commonly known as Visa Express or the “door visa,” allows Turkish citizens to enter 12 Greek islands for stays of up to seven days without a full Schengen visa. The islands covered include Rhodes, Kos, Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kalymnos, Symi, Kastellorizo, Patmos, Leros, Limnos and Samothrace. The program has been extended through April 2027.
Ferry bookings from Turkey for the June–September period are up nearly 54 percent year-on-year, the strongest growth rate among Greece’s major source markets, according to data from booking platforms. Greek authorities reported that more than one million Turkish visitors used the express visa in 2025, generating an estimated €500 million in spending. Officials now project a further 25–30 percent rise by the end of 2026.
The economic impact is spreading beyond hotels. Restaurants, car rentals, small guesthouses and local shops on the participating islands are reporting stronger midweek and shoulder-season traffic. Because the visa is limited to the island of entry and does not allow travel to mainland Greece or other Schengen countries, the spending stays concentrated in the local island economies.
The program stands out as a rare practical area of cooperation between Greece and Turkey at a time when wider Aegean issues remain sensitive. For travelers, it has created a simple, low-friction route into some of the Eastern Mediterranean’s most accessible Greek islands — and one of the clearest examples this summer of how targeted policy can still move real visitor numbers.
