Tourism from neighboring Turkey ended on a very positive note, while the measure for granting visas to Turkish visitors proved to be correct in practice.
As our well-known fellow citizen, travel agent, Mr. Michalis Roditis, explained in his statements to “Demokratiki”, with this decision, on the one hand, a big step was taken to free tourism from the very narrow limits set by the Schengen regime, on the other hand, tourism from the neighbor moved very upward throughout 2024:
“The year went very well, as can be seen from the statistics we have from the ten islands where the measure of granting visas to Turkish tourists was implemented. Rhodes, Mytilene and Samos were in the top positions of preferences. Turkish visitors travel to our islands preferring a three-day stay rather than a seven-day or one-day stay. This means that the visa was used for an average stay of three days and mainly by families who traveled,” he said.
However, according to the data cited by Mr. Roditis, despite the very high demand, there were no beds available, so our visitors were forced to limit their stay.
When asked if there was interest in the next season, he replied that the measure has not stopped:
“We would have had tourism in Rhodes from Turkey, even after the summer season closed, but the weather conditions did not allow it. However, there is intense mobility for the holidays, both for Christmas and for New Year, and if the weather is favorable, we should expect over 600 people from the opposite Turkish coast during this period alone.
The routes, both from Marmaris and Fethiye to Rhodes, recorded record arrivals – around 450,000 passengers, a very high number for the region. Only Kos, which, while having a higher demand, did not record very high rates in the granting of visas. This means that there was a problem and we have to be more careful for the next season”.
At the same time, the services responded but not as well as they should have. According to Mr. Roditis: “The promises we had from the Ministry of Citizen Protection were kept as usual. The services were adequately staffed. The biggest problem we face on the islands remains the infrastructure and mainly the port of Rhodes. It is unthinkable that this island should not have a closed waiting area and that visitors should be forced to wait for a long time in the heat and under the scorching sun. Ultimately, if we want to say that we are a Schengen port, we should be able to support it in practice. It is necessary to create a terminal, to create a special area so that passengers do not suffer even if there is a problem or delay with their arrival“.
And for 2025, however, the messages are very encouraging:
“The interest has not stopped from the opposite Turkish coast for excursions to Rhodes and our other islands. The Turks are island lovers, they travel a lot, while they have already started asking for holiday packages for April and May – three-day and four-day. Due to the problem of finding accommodation, the agents from the opposite side are asking to book the packages for their clients in a timely manner. Regarding the measure for granting visas to Turkish visitors, it turned out that in practice it was correct. There were no problems, mainly regarding the violation of the rules of residence. Let us not forget that the Turks remain good customers on a main basis and can replace any losses from other nationalities – such as individual Italians, individual French and domestic tourism, as Greeks do not travel so much, due to the high cost. Moreover, they travel during the summer, two or even three times! ”says Mr. Roditis.
It is noted that new announcements are expected from the Greek government on how the measure of granting visas to Turkish visitors will operate again – if it will be extended or if there will be changes.