In May 2026 Rough Guides is releasing the Rough Guides Mini Zakynthos guide. This new, and up to date, guidebook is a useful pocket guide for visitors to the island, for the summer season. It’s been written by travel writer and author Rebecca Hall who has extensive knowledge of Greece and the travel industry.

Rebecca is a travel writer and author of Girl Gone Greek, who has divided her time between the UK and Greece for approx. 18 years. She writes articles for airline magazines such as Wizz Air, easyJet and BA Highlife, Conde Nast Traveller (U.S. and UK), the Independent and Telegraph Rebecca has also written for online sites such as Fodor’s and Forbes Travel, plus she’s a guidebook creator and updater for Rough Guides – primarily guides in their Greece titles, but also Portugal too.

We grabbed a few minutes out of Rebecca’s incredibly busy schedule to ask her some questions about her latest Rough Guide release; the Rough Guides Mini Zakynthos.
 
Q: How long have you been writing Rough Guides?
A: Since 2014, after spending 6 years in Greece teaching English initially.  I then got a job researching for the guidebook in the summer holidays, each guide is updated roughly every two years, so it went from there and now I write full time as a living.
 
Q: What does writing a Rough Guide involve?
A: There’re two strands to it really.  Updating a book is easier as it means just going to your designated chapter place (ie: Ionian islands, Cycladic Islands, Athens, etc) and making sure all the entries are correct; hotels still open, better hotels/restaurants to include? New attractions?
Then if you’ve been asked to create a new guidebook from scratch – as I was for the very first edition of the Rough Guide to the Peloponnese, released in 2025 – or a new version of an older guide – such as Mini Zakynthos, it means re-formatting and researching; history, places, recommended itineraries, plus the entries as highlighted above.
 
Q: What destinations have you written about?
A: Since 2014 I’ve updated and now created from scratch written several Rough Guides.
The Rough Guides Greece, Rough Guides Greek Islands is released roughly every 2-3 years and is researched by a team of 4-5 of us, depending on our availability. I always research the Athens chapter, Dodecanese Islands and lately, the Ionians and Peloponnese on the mainland, plus the Argo Saronic islands (Hydra, Poros, etc).
I’ve also jointly helped research the Rough Guide to Portugal – due out in JUN 26. My area of research there is Porto and north Portugal.
Then there’s the guides I research and write on my own such as; 1st edition of the Rough Guide to the Peloponnese, Mini Crete, Mini Corfu, Mini Rhodes (all already released) and Mini Zakynthos and Mini Kefalonia are due out sometime in May 2026.
 
Q: What did you enjoy the most about your research for Rough Guides Mini Zakynthos?
A: It’s always interesting to discover new places and get local recommendations. There’s a new format for the Mini guides, new this year, in that as authors we have to recommend a couple of itineraries such as a ‘Family Tour of Zakynthos’ or a ‘Foodie Tour of Zakynthos’ (you’ll have to wait and see what’s been written in the book!) and it’s plotted meticulously with timings, etc ie: ‘9:00 am – Breakfast at xxx’ so it goes into detail about recommended places.
Of course, these recommendations aren’t necessarily for everybody, and I’m sure there’ll be those that know of or prefer other places, but this is exactly why it’s a ‘guide’ – and perfect for first time visitors.
 
Q: Is there a place on Zakynthos you loved exploring that you’d recommend to our readers?
A: I’m really not a package holiday ‘fly and flop’ type of tourist, so I like hiring a car and exploring the central plains and small villages in the centre of the island. I especially like going to the vineyards, not only to sample wine but I find them very peaceful places.
 
Q: What’s your number one favourite Rough Guides destination?
A: It’d have to be Greece! Although I also research northern Portugal and I do love that for different reasons (it’s a completely different destination from the Mediterranean), and Rough Guides published over 350 guides across all continents (so there’s something for everyone), I’m naturally bias as Greece is my favourite country.
 
Q: Why do you think Rough Guides are still important in our digital age?
A: My editor was asked this recently in an interview entitled ‘How Longtime Travel Guide Publishers Stay Relevant’ and she answered perfectly:
“When we [create] new books…what we’re able to bring to the party is the sense of authority. Places like Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece, traditional old favourites, bounced back strongly post pandemic, the main guides being our main bread and butter. People love having paper in their hands and maps to help.”

And besides, every time you buy a Rough Guide now, a free eBook version of the guide is available too, although I’ll be honest; I think your eyesight has to be pretty good!

Where can we get a copy?
The Rough Guides Mini Zakynthos guide will be published on 01May 2026. To grab your copy, you can purchase it directly from the Rough Guides site, and if you use this code: AUTHOR0020 at check out, you’ll get 30% off. The book ISBN is: 9781835294451.
The book can also be found on the Zakynthos BOOKS page on our website. 

Don’t forget, every time you buy a Rough Guide now, you can also get a free eBook version too!

Thanks for joining us at Zakynthos Informer, Rebecca. We loved hearing all about your writing work and the new Rough Guides Mini Zakynthos guide. We can’t wait to see a copies of it out and about on Zakynthos!

It’s been announced in the last week that tourism related revenue in Greece has exceeded €1 billion, January to February 2026. So far, Greece has recorded a 2.4% increase in numbers for February arrivals which stand at 811,585. A 1.7% increase has been recorded for combined overnight stays at hotels, campsites, and short-stay collective accommodations in February, which stands at 1,764,853. The number have been compared with February 2025, according to the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT).

Greek City Times published a further breakdown of numbers as follows:

“Foreign visitor arrivals rose 1.9 percent year-on-year, with overnight stays up 0.9 percent. Domestic travelers posted stronger growth, with arrivals climbing 2.7 percent and overnight stays increasing 2.2 percent.

Greek residents accounted for the larger share of activity, contributing 64.7 percent of total arrivals and 60.2 percent of overnight stays across all accommodation types. The average length of stay stood at 2.2 nights.

Travel receipts reached €1.006 billion in January–February, marking a 70.7% increase compared with the same period in 2025. The growth reflected higher spending from both EU and non-EU visitors.

Receipts from residents of EU-27 countries rose by 74.3% to €477.5 million, while income from non-EU countries increased by 70.0% to €516.3 million. Within the eurozone, receipts climbed by 68.6% to €407.9 million, while visitors from EU countries outside the eurozone contributed €69.5 million.
Country-specific data showed mixed trends. Receipts from Germany fell slightly by 0.8% to €66.6 million, while income from France surged by 76.8% to €29.4 million. Revenue from Italy rose by 41.5% to €55.6 million. From outside the EU, receipts from the United Kingdom reached €173.4 million, while those from the United States declined by 13.3% to €92.5 million.

Inbound travel also increased significantly. Visitor numbers rose by 38.5% to 2.12 million, up from 1.5 million in the same period last year. Air arrivals grew by 19.0%, while road border crossings surged by 83.9%.

Travel from EU-27 countries reached 1.1 million visitors, marking a 49.1% increase, while arrivals from non-EU countries rose by 28.6% to 1.023 million. Travel from eurozone countries increased by 37.3%, while arrivals from EU countries outside the eurozone surged by 129.5%.
Among key markets, arrivals from Germany rose by 8.2% to 174,400 travellers, while visitors from France increased by 41.5% to 54,800. Travel from Italy edged up by 3.6% to 83,700 visitors. From non-EU countries, arrivals from the United Kingdom jumped by 56.7% to 164,200, while those from the United States fell by 9.8% to 98,100.”

It's an interesting start to Greek tourism in 2026 and we wait to see what the tourism stats are for the reminder of 2026.

Source: Local Greek News