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Dutch travelers are opting for Samos this year, as tourism flows to the eastern Aegean island have significantly increased during the past five months (Για ελληνικά κάντε κλικ εδώ).
According to the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), Samos welcomed 21,600 visitors between April and August 2019 that arrived on the island with 341 flights directly from The Netherlands.
Data by the Bank of Greece for the first seven months of the year also showed that tourism flows from The Netherlands to Greece increased by 3.7 percent, on the back of a two-year growth. In 2018, Samos had received a total of 30,000 Dutch travelers and 378 direct flights.
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| The Dutch bloggers participated in a wine tasting event in Karlovasi, Samos. |
Meanwhile, as part of its efforts to promote the alternative side of Samos, GNTO recently held a fam trip for five Dutch bloggers, namely Femke Sneek from www.holistk.nl with 300,000 unique visitors; Josine Mooij of www.herhealth.nl with 250,000 visitors; Ilja Mul of www.Onehandinmypocket.nl with 62,000 visitors; Anita Noon of www.Reisvlinder.nl with 17,000 visitors and Tessa Van Den Broek, spokesperson for www.zoover.nl with 70,000 visitors per month.
The GNTO hosted the five bloggers on Samos and introduced them to alternative tourism activities such as hiking, horse riding, cooking classes, yoga and diving .
“They learned more about the island’s products through visits to local businesses, tours around the archaeological sites, and by participating in wine tasting events,” the GNTO said.
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| Diving in Kerveli, Samos |
The fam trip was organized by the GNTO in The Netherlands in collaboration with travel review platform Zoover, which counts 1.3 unique visitors on a monthly basis, and the support of the municipality of Eastern Samos.
As part of the initiative, Zoover plans to run a one-year online campaign on Samos.