Croatia, Cyprus as well as Albania have overtaken pre-pandemic figures when it comes to air capacity.
Such conclusions have been reached in the recent study provided by the travel intelligence provider Mabrian, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
According to the survey, the most significant increase comes from international flights, confirming that international travel will continue to recover this year.
Mabrian’s survey reveals that Croatia’s air capacity of a total of 7.1 million seats is up by 16.1 per cent, mainly driven by a total of 57 per cent surge in capacity with Italy.
The report revealed that Greece recorded a 14.7 per cent increase in international flights compared to 2019 statistics, while Cyprus saw a 5.2 per cent increase.
At the same time, Albania stands out with a surge of a total of 75 per cent in international flights in comparison to 2019 figures, helped by a total of 278 per cent surge in connectivity with Germany.
As for Bulgaria, the country is approaching pre-pandemic levels, with better signs of recovery for international flights than for domestic.
The report notes that Slovenia still needs to recover air connectivity, with scheduled flights accounting for just 58 per cent of 2019 levels.
The survey has found that hotel rates continue to go up for nearly all destinations across all three of the different star categories.
“The destinations with the highest increases in prices compared to last year are Bulgaria and Croatia. Albania is the only exception, with prices 4.1 per cent below 2022 levels for 4-star hotels (but up 6.3 per cent for both 3- and 5-star hotels),” the report notes.
The analysis consisted of data for the full 2023 vs pre-pandemic air capacity for the period up to August 16 vs 2022 for hotels.
The Croatian Bureau of Statistics revealed that in January this year, accommodation establishments in Croatia registered a total of 229,000 tourist arrivals as well as 602,000 tourist nights, thus accounting for an increase in the number of arrivals by a total of 32.4 per cent and nights by 19.1 per cent in comparison to January 2022 figures.
Bulgaria also experienced a surge in the number of international tourists. The Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandukova previously revealed that more than 900,000 tourists visited Sofia last year, accounting for a total of 57 per cent increase compared to 2021 figures.
Authorities in Albania also announced that the tourism sector in this country also improved significantly. According to the Albanian data statistics agency, INSTAT, Albania saw about a 100 per cent increase in visitor numbers in January this year, compared to 2022 figures.
At the same time, Greece has recently been chosen among the favourite destinations for Austrian travellers. At the same time, German Travel Association (DRV), Norbert Fiebig, announced the Hellenic Republic is among the top five travel destinations for German travellers as well, while the country is attempting to become Balkan Market’s new destination for this year.
>> Greece to Become Balkan Market’s New Destination for 2023
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