Research: Polish Market’s Demand for Greece

Introduction

In the realm of tourism, understanding market dynamics is crucial for crafting effective strategies. Our detailed examination of the Polish market for Greek islands provides insight into the travel habits and preferences of Polish travellers. The analysis below showcases when Polish travellers are searching for accommodations and the dates they’re most interested in. We have also examined the penetration of this specific market to the destinations they prefer the most. Finally, we have identified the top 5 destinations the Polish market penetrated the most in 2023, starting with Rhodes, which not only leads in demand but also showcases intriguing market behaviour. Before we begin, it should be noted that the data reports are interactive but the numbers showcased are scaled to a thousand; this helps us study the change in the effects of all the factors that cannot be measured or estimated on a direct basis.

Understanding Polish Travel Habits

Polish Demand Since 2020

The demand trend is clearly periodic, indicating a persistent preference for travel during peak holiday months in Greece. These peaks seen below, while not quantifiable in absolute numbers, show when Polish travellers intend to visit Greek destinations. The repeating regularity of these spikes indicates that Polish tourists have well-defined travel periods that are impacted by national holidays, school vacations, and seasonal weather trends.

Between the peak seasons, there is a noticeable decrease in demand, indicating a lower level of trip planning/activity. This flow corresponds to the off-peak seasons, which may include a mix of less favourable weather on the Greek islands and a return to work or school schedules in Poland. We see, however, that in January the demand begins shooting upwards in the past 2 years, as the ‘early bookers’ begin their search for the summer’s vacation.

The top 5 in-demand Greek destinations for Polish

Travel habits may reveal a lot about the economic and cultural preferences of a country and our data shows that the Greek islands have become an ‘Eden’ for Polish travellers, as a spike in searches for accommodation in 2023 suggests that there is strong demand for them. Our analysis reveals that the most popular dates for travel coincide with the traditional holiday seasons, providing insight into the general attitude toward sun-filled vacations, with July and August seeing the highest level of Polish interest in Greek retreats. 

This coincides with Poland’s customary holiday seasons, highlighting a desire to flee to warmer places throughout their summertime. Diving deeper into the analytical side (see the table below), in 2023, a significant 25.47% of all Polish travellers to Greece expressed interest in visiting Rhodes. However, this impressive quarter-share of Polish tourists translates to only 1.01% of Rhodes’ total global demand.

The gap between the percentage of interest and the destination penetration highlights the fierce competition Rhodes meets to draw visitors from around the globe, despite the fact that it continues to be an increasingly common choice for Polish travellers. Of note is also the significant 25.27% rise in demand for Rhodes from Polish tourists compared to the same period in 2022. This sharp increase indicates not only the increasing popularity of Rhodes but also a wider trend of Polish tourists looking for well-known holiday destinations. Additionally, the analysis of the Polish market indicates a consolidation of consumer demand compared to previous years. In 2022, the first and most dominant destination was still Rhodes, but only 9.02% of the total Polish travellers wanted to visit Rhodes. This can also be illustrated by the overwhelming 74.67% increase that the top 5 destinations account for and by the fact that the top 5 destinations are preferred by 66% of all Polish tourists.

Santorini and Corfu are also popular destinations for Polish travellers, accounting for 8.80% and 16.69% of traveller interest respectively. Although Santorini’s global penetration rate is only 0.36%, the island’s famed landscapes and sunsets are sure looking to be pulling in Polish travellers seeking a stunning vacation. With a greater penetration rate of 0.98% and a 26.16% increase in interest from 2022 to 2023, Corfu has grown progressively more popular among the Polish as a travel destination.

Zakynthos and Kos round up the top five, with 9.34% and 5.70% of Polish tourists planning to visit, with penetration rates of 1.15% and 0.65%, respectively. Zakynthos experienced a significant 44.08% growth in Polish demand in 2023 compared to 2022. A fascinating finding, however, is that even though the interest for Zakynthos has more than tripled in 2023, the penetration rate only rose to 1.15% from 0.87% that it was in 2022.

Most popular check-in dates

Poland, as most markets, prefer to go on their vacation during the most sunny and hot days of the year in order to enjoy the coolness of the majestic beaches Greece and Greek islands have to offer. As it can be seen in the graph below, the most in-demand period is, of course, the summer period. The great climb begins in May and only in September does it begin to decline for the two most popular destinations, Rhodes and Corfu. For the remaining 3 destinations, the demand starts much later and falls way earlier.

Another interesting fact is that, even though the most dominant destination is Rhodes, Corfu seems to have surpassed Rhodes during May and June. This needs to be investigated further, then, in order to understand what is different about Corfu during this period and it is coming ahead of Rhodes during these months. 

The seasonality of demand always gets us thinking, however, when did all these people start the search for their vacation accommodation?

What is the most popular vacation seeking period?

To answer this question and, as our analysis showed us earlier, the searches regarding Greece typically increase during January and February as people want to plan their summer vacation so they can have something to look forward to. There are other cases, though, where it is company policy to plan your days off at the beginning of the year and these days most of the time cannot be altered later. Likewise, there are many company policies that allow employees to only add days off for the current month, meaning that a lot of people would need to reach the first days of June to actually be able to make a reservation for middle/late June.

The examination of seasonality regarding check-in dates demand of the Polish is a bit different compared to how we ‘read’ and understand the graphs when talking about request dates. You may notice in the graph below that, even though we saw that Corfu was ahead in the check-in demand in May and June 2023, the search volume for Rhodes was much bigger throughout. 

It is difficult, however, to illustrate every scenario in this graph like last-minute requests or the fact that when someone searches to make a reservation, they may not always be able to actually book, or that the circumstances may not always allow it, but they are always free to check prices and compare options. It is obvious, then, that the date range alone is not enough to show the broader picture of the market as, when we compare it with the previous graph, it feels like Rhodes is overwhelmed with demand while Corfu is never in the spotlight. We can conclude, though, that Corfu’s popularity begins earlier compared to Rhodes because people have earlier request dates.

Conclusion

The year 2023 marks a significant chapter in the demand of the Polish to visit Greek islands, which makes us wonder how the landscape will look like in 2024, now that the Covid-19 crisis seems to be well behind us and the travel trends are being stabilised. Our analysis reveals that many Polish travellers are attracted by the Greeks islands as it was seen in the continuous peaks of interest during the best vacation seasons, indicating a collective desire for Greece’s exquisite beaches and cultural experiences. The data highlights strong seasonal tendencies, with summer months typically dominating the Polish vacation calendar. This trend is further emphasised by the earlier and sustained interest in Rhodes, which suggests a nuanced market that may be swayed by more than just the state of the climate but also by cultural events, unique offerings, or value-driven travel opportunities.

Note: This analysis concerns only Greece and Panadvert will subsequently conduct an analysis for Cyprus, where it had run an advertising campaign to promote the destination in the Polish market.