Greece has long been a favourite destination for holidaymakers, and newly released figures have proven that’s more the case now than ever.
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Greece’s South Aegean and Ionian island regions recorded the highest tourism saturation of any region in the European Union in 2024, according to Eurostat data analysed by the Greek Reporter.
The numbers show that, on the whole, visitors spent more nights per resident there than anywhere else in the EU.
The South Aegean, which is home to the popular islands of Santorini, Rhodes and Kos, proved particularly popular, with tourists logging 127.2 nights for every resident last year. It also boasted over 41.5 million overnight stays and, against a population of roughly 326,000, that makes it the widest gap between visitors and residents found anywhere in the entire EU.
The Ionian islands, which include Corfu and Zakynthos, came in second place, and has 102.6 nights per resident, as well as 20.5 million overnight stays compared to a population of around 200,000. No other region in the analysis came close to matching either figure.
Where else in Europe has significant tourist saturation?
Elsewhere, the Italian province of Bolzano, known as the gateway to the Dolomites mountain range in the Italian Alps, recorded 68.9 nights per resident.
Croatia’s Adriatic coast, home to buzzy Dubrovnik and Split, swiftly followed, with 67.5 nights per resident, while the Spanish Balearic islands, which include Ibiza and Majora, had 60.
Back in Greece, the largest island of Crete was the sixth most-saturated destination, with 55.6 nights per resident.
Overall, across all EU countries, most regions recorded fewer than 15 nights per resident as compared to tourist stays.
Even the third region of Greece, the North Aegean, recorded just 14.9 nights per resident – but that still gave it 24th place in the ranking.
At the other end of the scale, the Mazowieckie region surrounding Warsaw in Poland recorded just 0.7 nights per resident, but it was beaten to last place by Mayotte, a French island in the Indian Ocean – which is, surprisingly, an EU territory – which recorded just only 0.5 nights per resident.