It appears “Greece is winning the race for tourism recovery in Europe, despite the wildfires afflicting the area north of Athens” the Financial Times noted on Friday. Referencing an analysis by the aviation consultancy OAG, the London-based newspaper said that planned international flights to Greece for the month of August are currently 2% higher than they were in the record-breaking year of 2019. Meanwhile, the Europe average is 31% lower than it was that year, and even Spain – Greece’s usual rival for tourism – has 25% less scheduled arrivals.

The cause for the country’s success, the article notes, is the effective marketing in place letting people around the world know that Greece is open for tourism. That message seems to have had most effect in Germany, Switzerland and France, from where the number of seats on scheduled flights are up 25%, 26% and 31%, respectively.

It’s worth noting that August is the busiest period for tourism in Greece.