Many European governments are trying to keep their citizens inside the walls
promoting “staycation”, for holidays, ie at home or at least in nearby road destinations abroad.
In our country, mainly for the region of Northern Greece, the bookings of visitors coming from the Balkans by road show a clear increase, even 80%.
For Road Tourism, a first forecast for this year is that the numbers will definitely be increased compared to last year, especially if there are no arrhythmias at the borders and entrances of the country, with possible extension of the season to autumn, under the condition always that the epidemiological data will move smoothly.
One of the issues that concerns Road Tourism is that road traffic should be facilitated
crossings at key gates of the country, so that there are no overcrowding and long delays, a phenomenon which has already been observed at the road borders.
Given that almost one in three tourists comes to Greece through its land entrances, the importance of the final contribution of Road Tourism to the total product is highlighted. The flow of road arrivals is satisfactory, although it comes mainly from the neighboring Balkan countries. The entrance gates are open for Evzoni, Promachonas, Nymfaia and Ormeni, while Krystallopigi operates with a minimum number of people.
In 2019, a record year for Greek tourism in all sizes, road tourism amounted to 9.6 million arrivals, 38.2 million overnight stays and 1.8 billion euros in revenue, corresponding to 30.6% of of total arrivals, at 16.4% of overnight stays and 10.1% of revenue.
Of course, it is a “feeder” mainly of Northern Greece, as the first three stations with the largest volume of traffic, are constantly Promachonas, Evzoni and Nymfaia. The tourists who come by road, are directed mainly to Halkidiki, Pieria, Thassos, Samothrace and other parts of Northern Greece, while a part of them to Central Greece, Ionian Islands, Evia and elsewhere. With
There is already a bilateral travel agreement with Serbia, while arrivals with Romania and Bulgaria are unimpeded under the European Digital Certificate.
In contrast, road tourism is characterized by a relatively low Average Per Capita Expenditure (185 euros vs. 731 euros for the rest of tourism), as a result of the low Average Length (4.0 nights vs. 8.9), but also the low Average Expenditure Overnight (47 euros vs. 82 euros).
In particular, 67% of the total revenue of Road Tourism enters the country in the third quarter compared to 58% of the rest of tourism and 59% of the total.
The ease of access and the sense of security and independence that travel with a personal vehicle offers can potentially lead to greater demand.
In terms of Road Tourism revenues, the steady upward trend of Romania stands out, followed by Serbia with 297 million euros, Bulgaria with 282 million euros, Albania with 200 million euros, Turkey with 171 million euros and Finally, Northern Macedonia with 360 million euros.
Regarding the overnight stays of Road Tourism, the upward course of Bulgaria and
Romania (8.2 million and 7.0 million), followed by Serbia with 7.7 million overnight stays, Albania with 3.2 million, Northern Macedonia with 2.3 million and Turkey with 2.1 million
Regarding the Average Per Capita Expenditure of Road Tourism, in 2019 the highest prices were presented by Serbia 318 million euros and Romania 311 million euros, on the contrary, the lowest prices were presented by Bulgaria 75 million, Northern Macedonia 121 million .
Also, the Average Expenditure per Night of Road Tourism, had Turkey with the highest such 109 million euros, while the Average Length of Stay stands out with the high price of 15.2 days.
From the main markets of Road Tourism, Serbia consistently presents the longest stay from 7.9 – 8.9 days, but combined with a low average cost per night, followed by Romania with 5.7 – 7.3 days, followed by Albania. with 3.4 – 4.2 days, while the shortest average stay is Bulgaria, northern Macedonia and Turkey