2 years ago it set a record: the island number 1 in the number of arrivals in 2024 has no sky

Summer is here and we are all dreaming of an island, we have already booked one or are still looking to book one.

Despite the turmoil that prevails in flights and ships these days, there is one island that manages to become a magnet every year and break all records. On the other hand, there is also an island that had a downward trend but seems to recover again in May.

Island at the top

Rhodes is the island that has consistently been in first place for two years after Crete, yet it has firmly established itself as the absolute pole of tourist attraction and we no longer consider it an island.

The island that has recovered based on air arrivals data for the first four months of 2024 and the extension of the tourist season is Santorini. The approach with which the quality objective is achieved from Greece and abroad as well as the extension of the tourist season is finally reflected in the comparative volumes of the destinations, according to the air arrival data for the first quarter of 2024 published by the Civil Aviation Authority and processed by the MTC Group.

Specifically, in the Cyclades, Santorini stands out in first place with 294,441 passengers who travelled between January and April 2024, followed by Mykonos with a much lower number of arrivals (77,479), Paros with more than twice as many passengers as Naxos (33,114 in Paros, compared to 13,885 in Naxos), Milos, with more than Skiathos (11,903 in Milos vs. 9,197 in Skiathos) and Syros which has overtaken Astypalaia (4,311 in Syros, 3,143 in Astypalaia).

Comparisons with other well-known destinations are crucial factors that need further investigation, especially by those who are lagging behind, despite their different size and the range of destinations they serve, such as for example Skiathos covering Alonissos and Skopelos.

Here are some other comparisons with nearly identical passenger numbers:

• Karpathos is located at almost the same levels as Kythera (6627 in Karpathos and 5965 in Kythera).
• Paros is ahead of Kefalonia (23,234), Kavala (22,536), Lemnos (24,909) and Kalamata (21,812).
• Naxos is on the same level as Ikaria (13,995), but ahead of Skiathos and Sitia (9,483).

In Athens we have 7,703,557 passengers, in Thessaloniki 1,846,923, in Heraklion 859,713, in Rhodes 538,362, in Chania 230,594, in Kos 126,652, in Mytilene 105,854, in Alexandroupoli 88,727, in Samos 51,676, in Kavala 22,536 and in Kalamata 21,812.

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