Ionian Islands: Demand is on the Rise in 2023 According to Panadvert’s Latest Destination Findings

In the third instalment in our Travel Trends Analysis, we are looking at demand for the Ionian islands – namely, Zakynthos, Corfu, Kefalonia, Lefkada, and Kithira. Our Performance and Data Analysis team took into consideration more than 2.765 million search queries that were aggregated from multiple sources (i.e. OTAS, booking engines and secondary data from search engines Google, Yahoo and Bing) concerning search periods of January 1st to March 12th in 2022 and 2023 respectively (herein referred to as “search period”) in order to identify early booking behaviours.

Consistent with our previous analyses of the Cyclades and Cyprus, travel demand has risen an average +27% for the Ionian islands this year, as the hospitality industry seems to be fully recovering from the previous years’ crises. What follows are the key takeaways from our analysis and then each Ionian destination is laid in more detail.

Key takeaways:

Demand for the Ionian islands has increased in 2023 compared to 2022, with a few exceptions such as decreased interest from Greeks and French.
Lefkada and Kithira show the biggest increase in demand so far this year with a rise of 41% and 52%, respectively.
Interest in visiting Zakynthos has increased in 2023, with about 70,000 more queries compared to 2022. The Italians are now the second most interested in visiting Zakynthos behind the British.
Demand for Corfu is nearly the same as last year, with decreases in the volume of hotel booking searches in many cases. The British remain the most interested ones in visiting Corfu yet interest from Italians has risen 52% so far.
Australians have shown a significant increase in interest in visiting Zakynthos (+299%) and Kefalonia (+295%) in 2023. July is their month of preference.
Australians (+134%) and Italians (+62%) are showing the biggest increase in demand for Lefkada this year so far.
The most popular months for visiting the Ionian islands are August and July.

Zakynthos

According to our analysis, in the established period in 2022, more than 500,000 hotel booking queries were made for Zakynthos. The British led the way, with the Dutch, Italians, Germans, and Romanians completing the top 5. The month breakdown shows interest as the former two showed a preference for visiting the island in July, followed closely by August, along with the Romanians. Italians were clearly set on August with the Germans following in their footsteps, but having June and July close behind.

In 2023, the picture is somewhat consistent with that of 2022, with about 70,000 queries more than last year. The British are again the most interested ones in visiting Zakynthos, but Italians have risen in second place this time, pushing the Dutch in third place. Germans and Romanians conclude the top 5. The month breakdown also exhibits similarities to that of last year; in particular, the British insist on their preference for visiting Zakynthos in July along with the Romanias. The Dutch, however, show a clear preference for August this time along with the Italians. The Germans, finally, seem to be opting for June this year.

The most interesting findings from the comparison of the 2022 and 2023 established periods is that there is a slight rise in demand for Zakynthos (+17%), especially from the Italians (+33%). The Australians are also showing 4 times more interest in Zakynthos this year. August is the most popular month for visiting Zakynthos.

Corfu

In 2022, the British were undoubtedly the most interested ones in visiting Corfu, with the Germans and French lagging far behind. The Greeks and Italians concluded last year’s top 5. The month breakdown reveals that the British and Germans were most interested in visiting Corfu in June last year, the French, Greeks, and Italians favoured August instead.

This year, Italians have shown bigger interest in visiting Corfu, which has brought them to the third place of the top 5. The British steadily hold the reins, with the Germans in second place, and the rest as it was last year. The month breakdown reveals that Italians and French remain consistent on their preference for August, with the British joining them this year. Germans seem rather torn between May and June while Greeks face the dilemma of August and July.

The comparison between 2022 and 2023 is quite revealing; in many cases, search queries are less this year or are almost the same as last year. In particular, queries made from Greeks are more than 26% down, while from the French they are more than 18% down. The only significant rise comes from the Australians, who have nearly tripled their search queries this year.

Kefalonia

In 2022, the British were the most interested ones in visiting Kefalonia, having made 100,000 searches more than the second ones, the Italians. Greeks, Germans and Romanians concluded the top 5. As for their month preferences, the Brits seemed to be going for July but with June and August following closely by, something that was also observed for the Romanians. The Italians went once again for August, with the Greeks joining them. Germans seemed to prefer June.

The top 5 in 2023 remains untouched, only this time the Brits’ interest in visiting Kefalonia has risen even more, as they have made almost 120,000 more hotel booking searches than the Germans who are again in second place. The month breakdown mirrors that of last year, with the British being the only exception, as they seem to prefer June this year, with July and August coming afterwards.

Demand for Kefalonia has risen more than 26% overall, with the biggest rise once again witnessed coming from the Australians, who have quadrupled their hotel booking queries this year. Other interesting rises are found in French (+62%), Dutch (+52%) and Romanians (+50%), while the Germans are the only ones who exhibit a slight drop (-0.75%) this year.

Lefkada

In 2022, the British and Romanians led the demand in Lefkada, with Greeks, Italians and Germans completing the top 5. As for the month they preferred to spend their holiday in Lefkada, the Italians remained firm in their preference for August. The British seemed torn between August and July while Germans could not decide between August and June. Greeks and Romanians, finally, opted for July.

Our analysis for this year has shown that the British and the Romanians are still the top most interested in visiting Lefkada this summer, with the Italians rising in the third place this time. The Germans and Greeks complete the top 5 once again. Concerning their month preferences, the Italians are again clearly set on August. The Greeks and the Brits seem to equally be searching for July and August, while the Romanians show a clear preference for July and the Germans for June.

Demand for Lefkada has risen more than 40% compared to last year, with the biggest increase in hotel booking searches witnessed once again coming from Australians, who have more than doubled their search volume, followed by the Italians, whose searches have risen 62% this year compared to 2022. Another interesting finding is that while last year the total searches for visiting Lefkada concerned both July and August, this year August seems to be in higher demand.

Kithira

Less popular with the tourists, it is no surprise that Kithira is more popular with the locals as they were the ones who did the most hotel booking searches for the island. Far below followed the Italians, the British, the Germans, and the Australians. For the former three, August seemed to be the month of choice, while the Australians and Germans seemed to prefer July instead.

The picture has changed slightly this year, though, as the French have entered in the 4th position, knocking the British off the top 5. Greeks remain the ones most interested in visiting Kithira, with Italians following and the Australians having risen to the 3rd position. Germans conclude the top 5 for 2023 so far. The month preferences for Greeks and Italians remain firm towards August, with the French and Germans joining them, while the Australians are going for July instead.

The comparative analysis has revealed an impressive 52% rise in demand for Kithira this year compared to 2022 with the biggest increase in hotel booking searches coming from the Romanians (+547%), the Dutch (+243%), the Australians (+196%), and the French (+113%). The only ones showing a decrease in searches in 2023 are the British (-42%) and the Austrians (-35%).

Conclusion

In conclusion, interest in visiting the Ionian islands has increased in 2023 compared to 2022, with Australians showing the most significant increase in hotel booking searches. The British remain steadily the ones most interested in visiting the majority of the islands analysed above, with the Italians also exhibiting a rise this year.

Hospitality businesses can benefit from the data presented in this article, in order to make more informed decisions about their marketing spends and targeting. Let us help you navigate these waters of information overload and turn data into actionable insights.