Athens vs Heraklion

Athens leads Heraklion by 3 points on the CIRA Index, 63 to 60. Athens grades better on 7 measures, Heraklion on 6; the same 35 measures from public sources for both.

Scores by each organisation's criteria

• CIRA Index: Athens 63, Heraklion 60
• OECD: Athens 58, Heraklion 54
• UN Tourism: Athens 62, Heraklion 64
• UNDRR: Athens 60, Heraklion 60

Theme by theme

• Demand and seasonality: Athens 67, Heraklion 38
• Economy and jobs: Athens 56, Heraklion 69
• Climate and hazards: Athens 40, Heraklion 45
• Water and environment: Athens 50, Heraklion 75
• Community and housing: Athens 63, Heraklion 50
• Access and continuity: Athens 79, Heraklion 71

Where Athens is stronger

• Largest foreign market: 13.8 % of international arrivals or nights (country figure) (Bank of Greece / INSETE Intelligence, Annual Tourism Report, 2023). At or below 15: grade 4/4.
• Recovery against 2019: 140.5 % of 2019 visitor nights reached in the latest full year (region figure) (Bank of Greece, Developments in the balance of travel services: 2024 & 2019, 2024). At or above 110: grade 4/4.
• Hotel bed or room occupancy: 77.1 % average annual occupancy (Athens-Attica & Argosaronic Hotel Association (EXAAA) & GBR Consulting via GTP Headlines, 2025). At or above 75: grade 4/4.
• Tropical nights: 98.4 nights a year with a minimum at or above 20°C (last 5 full years) (ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo, 2021–2025). Between 60 and 100: grade 1/4.
• Tourism intensity: 14 visitor nights per resident per year (country figure) (Eurostat / INSETE, Greece Tourism Statistics Dataset, 2023). Between 10 and 20: grade 2/4.
• Access redundancy: 4 independent ways in: international airport, intercity rail, port, motorway (metro figure) (Athens International Airport / Hellenic Train / Piraeus Port Authority / Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, 2026). At or above 4: grade 4/4.
• Tourism crisis and recovery plan: A written destination crisis plan (UN Tourism (UNWTO) & European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), 2023). Grade 2/4.

Where Heraklion is stronger

• Unemployment rate: 6.9 % of the labour force (region figure) (Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) Labour Force Survey / The Kolymbari Courier, Q4 2025). Between 5 and 8: grade 3/4.
• Income per head: 45,264 GDP per capita, USD PPP (country figure) (World Bank WDI, 2025). Between 45,000 and 60,000: grade 3/4.
• Extreme heat days: 8 days a year at or above 35°C (last 5 full years) (ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo, 2021–2025). Between 5 and 15: grade 3/4.
• Flood hazard: medium (region figure) (World Bank GFDRR ThinkHazard, current (retrieved 2026)). Grade 2/4.
• Water scarcity: very low (region figure) (World Bank GFDRR ThinkHazard, current (retrieved 2026)). Grade 4/4.
• Wastewater safely treated: 92.1 % of domestic wastewater safely treated (country figure) (United Nations Global SDG Database / WHO / UN-Habitat (Indicator 6.3.1), 2024). Between 85 and 95: grade 3/4.

Country context (World Economic Forum)

• Greece: #21 of 110 in the WEF Travel & Tourism Development Index 2026
• Greece: #21 of 110 in the WEF Travel & Tourism Development Index 2026

Athens in full · Heraklion in full

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