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21 February 2011 01:12
Travel
UK visitors to Rhodes on the rise
Rhodes remains a firm favourite for British holidaymakers, with year-on-year UK arrivals to the island growing by 7.5% in 2010.
The island had more than 267,000 UK visitors in 2010, compared to 248,000 in 2009. Along with Germany, UK is the top market in generating visitors to Rhodes.
Rhodes Airport in the third largest airport in Greece in terms of international passenger traffic, after Athens and Heraklion-Crete. Last year it recorded more than 1.4 million international arrivals and 2011 has also been off to a good start, with year-on-year international visitors more than doubling in January (3,486 in 2011 as opposed to 1,563 in 2010, a 123% increase).
A long established tourist destination, the image of Rhodes suffered eight years ago because of the infamous Faliraki scene, which led to a dramatic drop in visitors; pre-Faliraki, UK arrivals to the island used to surpass 300,000 every year.
Local tourism authorities were quick to tackle these issues and have focused since on shunning its reputation as a 'party island', improving hotel standards and increasing the number of five star properties on the island. Aided by competitive rates and added value offers, visitor figures have been growing back healthily over the last few years.
Tom Panagos, PR Manager for Rhodes Tourism in the UK, said:
"When someone talks about Faliraki I feel as if I'm in a time machine. Those days are long over for us and we have worked hard to reposition the island as a quality destination. There are more than 100 luxury hotels in Rhodes and this year we welcome the opening of the first Sheraton in Greece and the biggest spa on the island - so we are definitely moving forward".
He continued:
"Rhodes offers a unique combination, which makes British holidaymakers coming back for more: it's short haul and easy to get to, with fantastic beaches, glorious weather, high standards of accommodation, amazing food and all this with a price tag that won't blow the budget!"
Rhodes is served with charter flights by a number of UK-based airlines, including Easyjet, Jet2.com, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways, while Ryanair launches flights from London Stansted and Liverpool in April.
The island is now directly connected with 16 UK airports during the summer season: London Gatwick, London Luton, London Stansted, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, East Midlands, Leeds/Bradford, Newcastle upon Tyne, Doncaster/Sheffield, Glasgow-International, Belfast International, Bristol, Cardiff, Bournemouth, and Exeter.
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