After a record tourism year in 2023, Greek officials are hoping for another windfall from foreign visitors, and while Athens and Thessaloniki and the Peloponnese are gaining in popularity, it’s still the famed island that are the main attraction.

And that’s good news for the ferry boats who take them there, with the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) seeing a 5 percent increase in passenger traffic in 2024 compared to the previous record year of 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut them down.

Based on data shared by shipping agents with Naftemporiki,” a total of 16,158,000 million coastal passengers were handled by the country’s largest port, Piraeus, compared to 14,976,000 in 2022 and 11,846,000 in 2021, increases of 8 and 5 percent.

https://www.naftemporiki.gr/english/1607674/positive-signs-for-greek-shipping-in-2024/

While the Tourism Ministry is trying to persuade people to come year round it’s still the summer that’s the peak time and the busiest for the boats and competition is intense between competing lines.

The business newspaper said it was told by sources it didn’t identify that there is a strong interest in the line of Kythira, the western Cyclades and Lemnos, but also in smaller ones concerning local routes such as Aghia Kyriaki – Trikeri – Volos.

The tender for 73 commercial line, which is expected to be finished before the end of March, concerns ships of three classes, which are defined based on their age. The younger the age, the higher the price estimated by the Ministry of Shipping.

In this way, an attempt is made to attract newer and more modern ships to serve lines that are not of commercial interest to the shipping companies, it was also said.