Tour operator Alltours is expanding its offers for Greece as the destination makes an impressive recovery on the German market according to the fvw.

Greece has made a solid comeback on the German market. The number of Germans visiting the country grew by 7% to 1.9 million over the first nine months of 2013, according to the country’s statistics authority. With a share of 12.2%, Germans are the largest foreign visitor source ahead of Britain and Russia.
Two years ago at the height of the financial crisis, when many Germans did not feel welcome in the country, Greece dropped back to fifth place in the destination popularity ranking of tour operators. But now it is back in third place, behind Spain and Turkey.
One factor in this recovery has been the commitment of tour operator Alltours, and owner Willi Verhuven personally, to the destination. Greece played a central role in the expansion of his company from a small regional tour operator into number five in Europe’s largest outgoing market over the last three decades. By 2010, some 200,000 Germans a year holidayed with Alltours in Greece. But demand slumped in 2011 and 2012 as the financial crisis overcame the country, resulting in social unrest. In 2012, Verhuven financed and appeared in an advertisement appealing for confidence in the crisis-hit country, and also offered discounts and guarantees to stimulate demand.
In 2013, Alltours was rewarded with a 26% rise to 150,000 customers for Greece. This year the firm hopes to return to the pre-crisis level with demand rising strongly for the major destinations of Rhodes, Kos and Crete. “Greece is growing faster than a series of other destinations. We are well ahead of last year,” Verhuven said. Flight capacity has been extended to diverse Greek destinations.
This summer the company has re-positioned the club brands as Alltoura Hotels and Holiday Hotels as customers are more interested in overall hotel services than just typical club entertainment offers. There are also more exclusive hotels, for example in Chalkidiki and Corfu, although Greece as a whole remains well behind Spain where 65-70% of Alltours customers stay in a hotel that the company offers exclusively. In addition, Alltours is offering more four- and five-star hotels, with a number of new hotel partners this summer.
However, the tour operator has no plans to try to extend the holiday season in Greece, explaining that too many hotels and restaurants are closed until May or from the autumn onwards to make such offers viable.
Meanwhile, Marketing Greece, the private tourism promotion initiative of the Greek travel industry, has launched a new visitor website discovergreece.com together with social media pages. Consumers can not only inform themselves about the country, regions, culture and sights but also research accommodation, transfer options and tours, with a price comparison tool.