ATHENS – It’s boom time in Greece for tourists – not so much for many Greeks who can’t afford a holiday – and now the German tour agency TUI said it expects it will be a record buster and bring in big revenues.

The group’s Director of Communications Aage Duenhaupt told the state run Athens-Macedonia News Agency (AMNA) that “Greece is again this summer one of the most popular holiday destinations. We expect the highest level of demand ever.”

He added: “In total the group is expected to bring around 3 million holidaymakers to Greece. A higher number of visitors than before the pandemic, when it was 2.8 million,” he added – and just from TUI.

Greece had some 33 million tourists during the previous record year of 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic struck early in March and sharply curtailed international travel for more than two years, only now rebounding.

TUI’s expectations were in line with those of Greek tourism officials and the sector’s chiefs who said they also expect a banner year despite the loss of Russians left out by European Union sanctions against Russian airlines over the invasion of Ukraine.

Tourism brings in as much as 18-20 percent of Greece’s annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 197.83 billion euros ($200.3 billion) and is the country’s biggest revenue engine.