Greece remains the most favorite tourist destination for Finns, a fact confirmed by the plan of Finland’s flag carrier, Finnair, to add direct flights to Greece’s second largest city, Thessaloniki.

The Greek Tourism Organization (EOT) was present at the MATKA TRAVEL FAIR 2026 in Helsinki with a pavillion, attracting a great number visitors who were informed about the news of more direct flights to Greece.

According to an announcement by EOT, Finnair will launch direct flights from Helsinki to Thessaloniki three times a week during the summer season, starting on May 4, 2026, to serve the growing number of Finns wanting to travel to Greece.

According to data released by the Finnish Association of Tour Operators (SMAL.fi), approximately 595,000 travel packages to destinations in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa were sold in 2025.

Greece has long held first place as the most popular destination for Finnish travelers, a position once again confirmed by the 2025 figures. Nearly 209,000 travel packages were sold for Greece. The second most popular destination was Spain, with almost 161,000 packages, marking a 13.9% decline compared with 2024.

Co-exhibitors at the Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) pavilion at MATKA Travel Fair 2026 included the Regions of Crete and Central Macedonia, the Halkidiki Tourism Organisation, the Thessaloniki Tourism Organisation, the Pieria Tourism Development and Promotion Organisation (POTAP), and the Federation of Finnish–Greek Associations, which comprises 11 associations and 460 members, all Finnish nationals.

On the opening day of the fair (15 January 2026), the GNTO Scandinavia Office participated in B2B meetings at the organization’s stand with representatives of tourism media such as Travel News and Mondo, tourism professionals, and tour operators including Apollo, which offers travel packages to Greek destinations.

According to the organisers, MATKA 2026 hosted around 1,000 exhibitors from 60 countries, while visitor numbers exceeded 56,400.