French interest in holidays in Crete remains strong

For the third consecutive year, Crete was a pole of attraction at the international tourism exhibition Salon Mondial du Tourisme, which took place from 13-16 March 2025 in Paris.

The French love Crete, having historically been the third largest tourist market on the island, with trips throughout the tourist season. It is indicative that the first charters to Heraklion on 27 March 2025 will transport visitors from France and Germany. There was particular interest in culture, walking, cycling, sea tourism, as well as tourism with a motorhome.

Several elderly French people visited the Crete Region’s stand during the first two days – almost simultaneously with the Salon Mondial du Tourisme, the Salon des Séniors (an exhibition for seniors) was also taking place – and according to a survey by the Alliance France Tourisme (AFT), French retirees are estimated to spend more than €2,200 per trip compared to the approximately €1,700 spent by younger travelers, while they make, on average, 6.2 trips per year, with 58% of them being short trips and 53% long-term trips.

The Crete Region provided information on the sights, nature, culture, walking routes, and other activities, the gastronomy of Cret,e and in particular its award as the Gastronomic Region of Europe for 2026, while visitors tasted traditional Cretan products.

The Crete pavilion was visited by the Ambassador of Greece to France Antonis Alexandridis, who is originally from Rethymno.

The Region of Crete was represented by Kyriakos Kotsoglou, Deputy Regional Governor for Tourism and Nikos Syrigonakis, Deputy Regional Governor of the Heraklion Prefecture, Eleni Vougioukalaki, Deputy Head of the Tourism Department of the Heraklion Prefecture and the Department's executive, Marina Tsaparidis.

Kyriakos Kotsoglou stated: “Salon Mondial is a public exhibition, complementary to Top Resa, which gives us the opportunity to present Crete to visitors who may not use digital media, will not go organized through a Tour Operator, but will come to the Gastronomic Region of 2026 for nature, history and culture, giving another season of an upward trend in Crete, Everywhere!!”

Nikos Syrigonakis stated about the exhibition: “Representing the Region of Crete and under the supervision of the Heraklion Regional Unit, we participated in the Salon Mondial tourism exhibition. We had the opportunity to build partnerships, to get in touch with the Greek Embassy in Paris, but above all to see once again the dominant position of Crete in the international arena and the love of the French for our island. With the certainty that this year too the French will visit us with an upward trend, we are preparing for another record year.”

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