The impact of ongoing uncertainty has become apparent in arrival figures at the country’s top tourism destinations, data released by tourism professional association SETE show.
Figures show that in April there was a year-on-year drop in arrivals of 26.9 per cent at the airport in Kos, 22.1 per cent in Kephalonia, 7.4 per cent in Iraklio on Crete, and 31.1 per cent in Mykonos.
Total arrivals did not seem to take such a big hit thanks to a 21 per cent rise in air arrivals recorded in Athens last month – attributed to the increase in scheduled flights.
SETE chief Andreas Andreadis told president Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Tuesday that a plan to “increase value-added tax by 120 per cent [for the sector] would take Greek tourism out of competition and inflict irreparable damage.
“Hotels will be unable to absorb the increase and over 200,000 jobs will be lost from 2016,” he warned.