Tourism revenues are expected to bounce back this year to pre-crisis levels, with visitors from Germany, Britain and Russia anticipated to return, representatives of the industry said.
Andreas Andreadis, head of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (Sete), said tourism revenues are seen rising by up to 10 per cent this year to €11 billion on the back of an expected record 17 million visitors.
“We are heading for a record year in terms of foreign tourist arrivals,” he said in an interview with Reuters. “Our target of about €11bn euros in direct revenues is feasible and we may even exceed it.”
If Sete’s forecast is met, receipts will rise to their highest level since 2009, when the country’s debt crisis began. That sparked violent street protests that scared off visitors.
Tourism accounts for about 17 per cent of national economic output.
Hoteliers, restaurant owners and tourism businesses have slashed prices and upgraded their services to weather the crisis and lure more visitors, Andreadis said. A better mix of tourist markets – tourists who stay longer and spend more on average – will also help the rise year on year.
About 40 per cent of hotels nationwide are now listed under the 4-star or 5-star categories, up from 25 per cent during the 2004 Athens Olympics, he said, adding that positive feedback from last year’s visitors had also helped prebookings.
“Fears that Greeks would be negative towards tourists – Germans for instance – were dismissed last year and now fears have been replaced with confidence,” said Andreadis.
Stability
Summer bookings from Germany and the UK were up 15 per cent and 20 per cent respectively, mainly due to reduced uncertainty over the country’s future in the eurozone and fewer violent protests since a stable government took over in June, he said.
The country’s main competitors are Spain, Croatia, Turkey and Egypt. Political uncertainty and turmoil in Egypt is turning some visitors towards Greece.
“What usually affects tourism is strikes and social unrest,” he said. “Greece is very quiet this year compared with Italy, Spain and Portugal, it’s ‘business as usual’.”
He added that Greece is now attracting increasing numbers of tourists from Eastern Europe.
A 30 per cent rise in Russian tourists will also add to revenues, he said. Almost 900,000 Russians visited Greece in 2012, a threefold increase in just three years.
Russians stay longer and spend more than the average foreign visitor. According to central Bank of Greece data for 2012, they accounted for 9.4 per cent of all receipts, much higher than their 5.6 per cent share in arrivals.
The hope is that tourism, which employs one in five people, will rebound strongly enough to offset the impact of the Cypriot crisis on the economy.
Domestic tourism, which has been severely hit as citizens are cutting down on expenses, was expected to remain at last year’s depressed levels.
“We won’t see an increase but there will be no further drop either,” Andreadis said.
Source: ENET English.