As winter- and world-weary Europeans begin to look forward to a summer period that will hopefully be more normal than that of 2020, it appears that a vacation in Greece is the top choice for many prospective travelers.

TUI Group yesterday released findings from its TUI Holiday Atlas Summer 2021, which is the tourism giant’s evaluation of the most popular destinations for its European customers.

According to the TUI Holiday Atlas, Crete is the most popular overall vacation destination for TUI’s customers for this upcoming summer, followed by Gran Canaria, Rhodes, Tenerife and Antalya.

In determining destinations’ relative popularity, TUI examines existing bookings from the most important European tourism markets; overall TUI has approximately 21 million customers across the continent.

The tourism behemoth provided a further breakdown of the popularity of various destinations for travelers from different countries.

In a press release the company writes:

“This year, British guests particularly favor Dalaman on the Turkish Riviera, followed by Cyprus, Antalya, Tenerife and Rhodes.

“Crete is the top destination for German holidaymakers for the first time. The island moves up two places in the ranking compared to the previous year and replaces Majorca. Rhodes and Kos also each climb two places to occupy 3rd and 4th place.

“As in previous years, the Greek islands are the number one destination for Finns, Danes, Norwegians and Swedes, followed by Majorca, Antalya and Cyprus.

“Belgian and Dutch TUI holidaymakers are heading in particular to Antalya and the Turkish Riviera this summer, while the two Greek islands of Crete and Rhodes as well as Majorca and Tenerife are also highly popular.

“French holidaymakers have chosen Sicily as their favorite destination this time, followed by Greek and Spanish destinations. However, the French are also keen to holiday within their own country this summer.”

[emphasis added]

Finally, TUI also praised Greece for its effective handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, noting that the country’s success in reopening to tourism last summer while keeping case numbers low has given it a boost in the run up to summer 2021:

“Greece is starting the new season with the tailwind of last summer. Low infection rates, comprehensive hygiene measures and a wide range of offers had already made Greece the most popular destination in 2020.”