February may not be one of the “strongest” months for tourism and even more so in the post-holiday period, but there are always ways to enhance the tourist product of a region with various occasions that professionals know how to exploit and create attractive proposals.

In recent years, starting with Thessaloniki, the “winged god” has inspired hoteliers to create special packages for the celebration of Valentine’s Day, which, it seems, in most cases does not leave people indifferent. This year, February 14 is a Friday, creating another good three-day weekend that will give tourism people a “breather.”

“Stay in love, because every love story deserves a beautiful stay,” says the Thessaloniki Hoteliers Association and as every year it promotes special packages for the lovers’ day in the city’s hotels, which include a romantic dinner, spa, accommodation and various other benefits depending on the hotel.

“It’s a campaign that most of the major hotels in the city participate in and surprisingly this year for the month of February we are doing very well compared to other years when traffic during this time was sluggish. People are responding. Of course, this concerns the weekends, but in general, from the picture we already have due to the reservations, it seems that this year will be an excellent year, very strong for tourism in Thessaloniki, “said Andreas Mandrinos, president of the Thanksgiving Association of Hoteliers of Thessaloniki, speaking to the Athens and Macedonian News Agency.

“I estimate that the increase that will occur is due to the metro and the promotion that was done, the opening of the border (for Bulgarians and Romanians) and if the situation improves on the border with Turkey we will have even more visitors. In general, in the period after the holidays we had and still have a lot of traffic, compared to the same period last year and previous years. Maybe the weather is also helping, as it is good,” added the president of EXT.

In Athens, where tourist traffic is always at good levels, the same is true for the month of February, which is a month that moves lower, as Eugenios Vassilikos, president of the Athens – Attica & Argosaronikos Hotel Association, pointed out.

However, “this year there is a sense that the period after the holidays is moving better than last year, something we will be able to say with certainty when the official figures come out. However, as the Hotel Association, through our website and social media, we are highlighting all the hotels that have special offers for Valentine’s Day. We always need to boost tourism and of course the celebrations and events can contribute in this direction,” Vassilikos said. Besides, the fact that the Valentine’s Day falls on a Friday gives another reason to visit Athens, which is a popular city break destination.

Valentine’s Day suggestions and special packages are available from several hotels in various regions, such as Drama, Lake Plastira, Aridea, Pella, Karpennisi and elsewhere, at a time when tourism moves mainly on weekends and with Greeks.

In Kalambaka, where tourist traffic is high thanks to Meteora but also because of conferences and events, there is also interest in Valentine’s Day packages, as Nicholas Zachariou, General Manager of the Divani Meteora hotel, pointed out. “We have proposals every year for February 14 and generally there is a response. This year the tourist traffic in terms of the wider area is somewhat more subdued however, compared to other years. The months that have the most visitors are April until about 20 June and from 20 August until October and of course the holidays. Creating a proposal for Valentine’s Day is interesting – people want something different – and it stimulates the market,” Zachariou noted.

There is a very high response to Valentine’s Day proposals this year compared to previous years, due to the coincidence of it being a Friday, Christos Lourantos director of the Euphoria Retreat hotel in Mistra pointed out. “On the occasion of Valentine’s Day we create special wellness programmes for couples and these have been extremely well received and motivate people to visit Mystras. At our hotel during Autumn and Winter, 95% of our guests on weekdays are foreigners, mostly Europeans, who choose us because they take wellness programmes of at least five days. In the summer they are joined by tourists who come to see the area and not exclusively for the wellness part. On weekends, more Greeks choose us. In general, the creation of a special product and the special offers and packages made on occasions such as Valentine’s Day give an extra incentive to visit a property and get to know another destination,” he stressed.