Greece remains upbeat
Tourism officials are hoping to turn a crisis into an opportunity in spite of severe financial problems and continuing industrial unrest.
Sara Macefield
Standing their ground: Greek travel chiefs admit the country has problems but say they will not harm its tourism. Gerekou did not attempt to disguise the seriousness of the problems facing Greece. “As a country, we have the ‘negative’ advantage of appearing permanently in the headlines of the international media‚” she said. “I do not want to deny the existence of the problem or play the situation down. The problem exists. It’s heavy, but it is not unsolvable.”
Gerekou believes the latest crisis offers Greece an opportunity to modernise and improve productivity, but she stressed that government budget cuts will not affect tourism spending adversely. “Tourism should be a dynamic factor, even in these difficult times,” said Gerekou. “Opportunities for development and investment are still out there and have not been negatively impacted.”
Yet concerted action is needed to help turn around a disappointing tourism performance for the country last year. Figures for January to September show total arrivals fell 6.7% to below 12 million. Several of Greece’s largest source markets contracted, one of the most dramatic being Italy, from where visitor numbers plummeted 17%. Germany fell by 7.1% while the UK market suffered a smaller decrease of 4.2%. To help combat the decline, the Greek tourism authorities have unveiled a number of measures that include cutting red tape to bring in more investment, encouraging additional private sector involvement, promoting eco-friendly hotels and developing more environmentally friendly tourism products. The country’s hotel association has also confirmed that its members will absorb a recent increase in value added tax from 19% to 21% instead of passing it on to guests.
New developments include the construction of 20 yacht marinas, modernisation of many older hotels and the building of the Athens Congress Centre, due to be completed by the end of this year.
Hall 2.2‚ Stand 101
Drucken
Tuesday, 31.08.2010
