Published on •Updated
Short breaks are now setting the tone for Greek travellers’ choices, while citizens over 65 make up the age group with the sharpest increase in their trips. This emerges from the latest data released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) for 2025.
The strongest growth was recorded in trips lasting one to three nights. Their number rose by 26.7% compared with 2024, reaching 2.1 million. Overnight stays for these trips increased by 27.8%, while spending was up 21.6%.
This trend does not mean that short breaks have replaced more traditional holidays. Trips of four to seven nights remained the largest category, accounting for 41.5% of the total. However, their increase was limited to 9.8%, significantly below the growth in trips of up to three nights.
The change was even more modest for trips lasting 15 or more nights, which increased by just 1.6%. Despite this almost stagnant picture, they still account for more than half of all overnight stays, indicating that long holidays continue to carry significant weight.
Over-65s are travelling more
The second key trend concerns travellers over the age of 65. The number of people in this group who made at least one personal trip rose by 24%, while the total number of trips by the same age group increased by 28.5%. Their spending was up 21%, and overnight stays by 12.1%.
Travellers over 65 accounted for 16.6% of personal trips but concentrated 28.7% of all overnight stays. The figures suggest that older travellers tend to stay longer at their destinations than other age groups.
Trips and spending on the rise
In total, 4.56 million residents aged 15 and over made at least one personal trip in 2025.
The number of personal trips increased by 13.7% to 7.93 million, while overnight stays rose by 7.4% to 73.3 million.
Total spending came to 3.68 billion euros, up 13.3% on the previous year.
Food and drink was the biggest spending category, absorbing 32.1% of the total, followed by transport, other expenses and accommodation.
Domestic destinations remain the primary choice
The vast majority of personal trips, 85%, took place within Greece.
However, trips abroad grew at a faster pace, by 18.8%, compared with 12.8% for domestic travel.
Italy was the most popular destination outside Greece, followed by Albania, Germany, the United Kingdom and France.
Despite the rise in short breaks, the seasonality of Greek tourism remains pronounced.
August alone accounted for 31.3% of personal trips and 34.9% of overnight stays, and together with July represented almost half of all trips made in 2025.