Move over Mykonos and Santorini, Kythira and Samos are in! New research reveals that interest in Greece’s lesser-known islands is growing.
Greece’s big-name destinations face increasing competition from their under-the-radar neighbours. The Independent and specialist tour operator Sunvil recently analysed search volume for Greek islands – the number of times per month that people in the UK search online for terms including each island’s name – and found that the biggest increases in volume between 2018 and 2019 were for lesser-known islands.
Below are the top 10 Greek islands that increased in search volume:
Kythira +340%
Samos +39%
Lemnos +38%
Kythnos +32%
Halki +30%
Koufonissi +25%
Milos +23%
Meganissi +22%
Tilos +21%
Karpathos +14%
Through analysing search volume data between January and March in 2018 and 2019 respectively, Sunvil also found that searches for some of the more popular islands have decreased, including Zakynthos (-31%), Kefalonia (-21%) and Santorini (-12%).
Although a specific reason for this shifting in holiday destinations isn’t clear, there’s evidently a growing interest in less-frequented islands like Milos and Tilos.
The search data surge for Greece’s lesser-known islands could potentially be driven by Brits wanting a quieter, more traditional, active or outdoorsy Greek experience, or for some, it may simply be down to increased awareness of some of the smaller islands.
Despite some Greek islands experiencing a fall in search volume, Greece is still very much a firm favourite for holidaymakers. Search volume for holiday destinations across the country as a whole increased by 476% from 2018 to 2019 (an average of 7.56% increase per island).
