Americans, Britons, and French choose Greece at the last minute

A fairly diverse pattern of travel intention is recorded by VISA data for American, British, and French visitors to Greece this year, despite the fact that the "sun, sea" model continues to dominate as the main motivation for choosing our country as a holiday destination.

As shown by Visa's first survey exclusively on the travel behavior of these three origin markets, 9 out of 10 tourists in Greece make a reservation just 1 month before the start of the holiday, while strong trends in travel are observed in the months before and after the high season.

In addition, a clear lead in spending from the American market is emerging, especially in the luxury segment, while Athens is now emerging as a main destination.

The survey, conducted by IPSOS in the last two months of 2025 on a total sample of 1,500 consumers from the US, the UK, and France, showed a trend for last-minute bookings, which offer the possibility of finding holiday deals.

In terms of spending, there is strong demand from Americans for luxury holidays in Greece, with 21%, having much greater purchasing power compared to the other 2 markets, estimated to spend 18,000 euros on their holidays in Greece this year, choosing to stay in five-star hotels, increasing their average consumption and length of stay.

However, half of American visitors to our country plan to increase their annual vacation budget compared to the previous year, compared to 24% of Britons and 15% of French people, while Britons (61%) and French people (68%) will maintain stable spending compared to last year.

The reasons behind the increase in spending are price increases and longer trips, especially for Americans (60%) and British travelers (47%), while Britons (56%) also seek out self-care services.

The average spending of American visitors to the country for 2025 amounts to 3,040 euros per person (13% of their annual income), Britons to 1,900 euros, and the French to 2,550 euros (10% of their annual income for each market).

2025 also shows signs of a lengthening of the season, with growing interest in off-peak travel, particularly in May and September. Americans prefer to travel to Greece in July (21%), the British in May (17%) and June (27%), and the French in September (20%).

Travelers also show an intention to visit other Mediterranean countries – 50% say they will combine Greece with Italy, and 40% with Spain. 48% plan trips of 4-7 days, and another 48% plan to stay in Greece for at least 8 days.

At the same time, Athens is emerging as a key destination for all visitors, boosted by the wave of investment in tourism and infrastructure: Attica is the top destination in Greece for American and French travelers (41% and 39% respectively), followed by the South Aegean (31% and 30%) and Crete (27% and 35%). 27% of Britons also choose Attica, a similar percentage choose the South Aegean, but most prefer the Ionian Islands (32%).

The sun, sea, and culture model remains dominant in choosing Greece as a holiday destination.

Specifically, beach holidays are preferred by 69% of the sample, especially the British (72%) and the French (71%), and culture-focused holidays are preferred by 65% ​​of respondents, especially the French (72%).

American travelers are interested in a wider range of activities in our country, besides “sun and sea”, while they prefer music festivals and picturesque cities (e.g., Cyclades).

Sustainable tourism is more important for American travelers compared to the British and the French, who consider it important but on a smaller scale. Specifically, the survey showed that 30% of Americans are willing to pay 5-10% more for sustainable travel options, while 36% of Britons say “yes” to a 1-5% higher price.

Overall, 35% of travelers are willing to pay 1-5% more for sustainable tourism services, but a third of Britons and French people are negative about this prospect.

When it comes to travel bookings, American and British tourists are more active online, while 14% of French tourists need the support of travel agents. Accommodation booking websites (such as Booking.com, Expedia, and Agoda) remain the most popular platforms for travel information, while official hotel, activity, and restaurant websites are also widely used. Finally, ChatGPT has emerged as a new source of information for activity planning, with Americans leading the way, while France has the lowest “integration” of Artificial Intelligence.

As part of a memorandum with the Ministry of Tourism, VISA collected the following data on tourism in Greece over the past year: In 2024, 17% more visitors - VISA users are recorded, compared to the previous season (2024 data up to and including October of the same year), a 14% increase in consumer spending, a 6% increase in average transaction value, +25% in spending on dining and nightlife and a 114% increase in visitors from Turkey.

“We aim to become part of the tourism experience,” said the Country Manager at Visa Greece, Mr. Nikos Petrakis, during a press conference held on Tuesday at a central Athens hotel to present the research.

Explaining VISA's actions in Greek tourism, he referred to the collection of visitor data from services such as city transportation, but also in serving tourists at archaeological sites. In this context, VISA, in collaboration with ODAP and Cardlink, installed contactless transaction machines for issuing tickets at important archaeological sites in Greece (Acropolis, Epidaurus, Ancient Olympia, Delphi, etc.), while in the coming period, VISA aims to expand these facilities to more archaeological sites. Within 1.5 years, over 200,000 transactions were made at these machines at the Acropolis archaeological site, said Mr. Petrakis.