GREECE: Greek Tourism Growing At High Speed, So Do Tourism Revenues And Employment

Tourism is growing at high speed, says Alpha Bank analysts citing Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) data for the January-April 2018 period, while the industrial production index remained steady on an annual basis compared to a 7.1 percent rise in the same period in 2017.

In the same period, the production indexes of 16 of the 24 manufacturing sectors demonstrated a positive annual growth rate, with seven of these surpassing 2010 levels.

Alpha Bank bulletin indicates that the first four months of the year saw an increase in new orders, an a rise in production and employment in manufacturing production.

At the same time, a high percentage of respondents to the bank’s survey predicted an increase in production over the next 12 months, reflecting an overall improvement in economic conditions and in view of increasing orders.

Meanwhile, trade, tourism and transport contributed to Greece’s GDP and 0.6 percentage points to GVA, with tourism also supporting retail trade in a period of weak domestic consumer spending.

According to the bank’s analysts, industry, trade, tourism and the wider public sector have contributed positively to employment.

The report says, in 2017 the civil service accounted for over 26.1 thousand new employees, followed by trade at 21.3 thousand, industry at 16.1 thousand and tourism at 9.5 thousand.

According to ELSTAT data, the upward trend continued in the first four months of 2018 y-o-y to 64.5 thousand people.

Foreign tourist arrivals in Greece rose by 11.1 percent year-on-year to 1.058 million in April 2018.

Tourist Arrivals in Greece averaged 1084733.93 persons from 2007 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 3491724 persons in July of 2017 and a record low of 140107 persons in February of 2013.

Greece is a beautiful European country with a rich history that has enticed and drawn visitors from around the world to its shores for years.

With exquisite architecture, including centuries-old ruins, wonderful beaches, museums, food, and culture, it’s no wonder it’s a dream vacation for any traveler.

Before you live that dream, however, here are a few rules, no-nos and cultural etiquette things to know before going to Greece.

You might look hot in those six-inch stilettos, but don’t wear them when touring around the ancient historical sites of Greece.

The government has actually banned this, as the spiky heels could cause damage to the ancient areas.

The Director of Greek Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities explained: Female visitors must wear shoes that do not wound the monuments. These monuments have a skin that suffers and people must realize that.


Tourism Observer

GREECE: Arrivals Traffic Increases At Greek Airports

Tourist arrivals increased in February at major Greek airports by 24.9 percent and road arrivals rose in the same month by 17.1 percent compared to the same month in 2016.

This reinforces estimates of a good year ahead for Greek tourism.

Greece’s airports have reported a 20.6 percent rise in incoming traffic since the start of the year.

This increased by 33 percent at Athens International Airport and by 8.2 percent at the country’s regional airports.

At the same time, consumer confidence at major source markets is also showing signs of improvement with the exception of Sweden.

Meanwhile, the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) and the country’s employers’ bodies including the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) signed a two-year national general labor agreement on Wednesday, which foresees a 1.5 percent pay rise for 2018 and 2019.

The agreement was welcomed by SETE as it creates favorable working conditions and regulates relations in the sector.

At the same time, Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) issued a directive for short-term Airbnb-style rentals clarifying that they are exempt from VAT provided they do not offer services on the side besides bed linen and utilities.

Meanwhile, positive developments on the Greek tourism front include Ikos Resorts’ expansion to Spain through its newly-setup entity Ikos International SCA, headquartered in Luxembourg.

This, and the launch of direct flights from Thessaloniki to Dubai by Qatar Airways.

SETE Intelligence also recently released a report on the incoming tourism prospects in Greece for 2018.

The report showed that scheduled airline seats at regional airports were already showing a 22 percent increase for the 2018 summer season, compared to the same period last year.

Indicatively, scheduled airline seats from Germany are up by 45 percent.

On the downside, despite the growing number of arrivals in January, the Bank of Greece found that tourism revenue from receipts dropped by 3 percent.

SETE Intelligence is the research department of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE).


Tourism Observer

GREECE: Greek Police Launch “Stay safe in the city of Athens” Awareness Campaign

The Attica General Police Directorate has launched an awareness campaign for tourists visiting Athens, as part of the upgrading of its services for the safe stay of those visiting the Greek capital.

Through the campaign “Stay safe in the city of Athens”, a special pavilion on Thursday was set up near the archaeological site of the Acropolis, through which tourists and visitors can obtain a brochure in English that contains useful information and instructions for a safe tour of the city.

This action concerns not only Athens but also the airports and tourism destinations of the country. Greece remains a safe country that tourists can visit, said the general secretary of Public Order, Dimitris Anagnostakis.

In an announcement, the head of Greek Police, Lieutenant General Konstantinos Tsouvalas, said that Athens is a beautiful and safe city and that Greece is a safe country. EL.AS (Greek police) guarantees safety and this is what we are communicating today,he said.

On his part, Alkiviadis Assimakopoulos, general police director of Attica, said that the Tourist Police Visitors Help Office has served up to 11,000 civilians so far. We have a cooperation with the city’s hotels, which also distribute our brochures, he said.



Tourism Observer
www.tourismobserver.com

GREECE: German Tourists Flocking In To Greece

Tour operators assure that German tourists are regaining their trust and plan ahead for their holidays with Greece being a top destination choice this season.

The situation is very different from last year when tourists had been scared by the terrorist attacks in Paris, Istanbul and Brussels and were hesitant to book holiday packages.

"The willingness of citizens to travel abroad this year is great in all our markets despite the political and economic uncertainty that exists," says Peter Fankhauser, head of the Thomas Cook group and adds that reservations have increased by 10% compared to last year.

The same sentiment prevails in the announcements from Tui and DER Touristik while,baccording to the GfK Consumers' Institute, by the end of March bookings had increased by 5% having reached 64% of last year's total already.

However, last minute bookings are still open, mainly in July and it remains unclear whether reservations will reach or exceed 2015, a record year for tourism.

Greece is the country that attracts many holidaymakers, continuing thus the tradition of recent years. The popular destination benefits from the unstable political situation in Turkey. "At present, tourists are very skeptical about Turkey, and reservations are lower in 2017 than last year," said DER Touristik.

In particular TS, Jahn Reisen, Dertour, Meier's Weltreisen and ADAC are satisfied with the bookings. "Reservations for all destinations are up by single digits," says Rene Hertz, head of DER Touristik for Central Europe.

Having said all this, Spain remains the top preference of Germans. At the same time, tourism destinations in Germany are also greatly expanding, while Egypt is starting to experience a new period of rebirth, as 2016 was a very difficult year for the country and only 654,000 Germans visited it.

The consequences of the recent terrorist attack on the Coptic Christian minority with 40 dead and 110 injured remain unknown.

"Terrorism has an impact on tourist destinations and on travelers' behavior, but it does not affect travel," the FUR Institute reports.

Greek tourism officials are counting on a rise in demand from UAE travellers this year to support growth plans for the sector.

Visitor numbers from the UAE to the Greek capital of Athens jumped 20 per cent from 2015 to 2016, Elena Kountoura, the country’s tourism minister, told The National ahead of the opening of Arabian Travel Market in Dubai on Sunday.

She did not disclose exact figures.

The country now expects exponential growth in travel between the two countries since Emirates began operating a Dubai-Athens-Newark route in March.

The United States is home to the largest overseas Greek community in the world.

Mrs Kountoura said the Emirates flight was "very successful and the best flight they have right now for occupancy, beyond all expectations".

The increase in tourists to Greece from the UAE and wider Mena region, which showed 55 per cent growth year-on-year in 2016, is a promising development for a country beleaguered for almost seven years by a rolling crisis over its €321 billion (Dh1.26 trillion) debt pile, owed to domestic and international creditors, including other European Union member states.

"We expect 30 million visitors in 2017 assuming everything stays like it is," said Mrs Kountoura.

One million direct and indirect jobs

Tourism is worth 20 per cent of our GDP with one million direct and indirect jobs. It is hugely important to us and we have focused on extending the season, promoting different sectors like cultural tourism and religious tourism, pushed to open new markets, like the UAE and China.

Mrs Kountoura said that there was the possibility of meaningful cooperation on the tourism sector between Greece and the UAE.

Dubai has done an amazing job adding attractions and high-end tourists. Greece is known as a value-for-money destination where you can get great deals, and the cost of living is not high.

We were one of the first countries to agree to participate in Expo 2020 because we see the chance of working together. It is a totally different market as our target groups are not the same, we offer a cultural and ancient history combined with an island experience.

The ebullience of Greece’s tourism market, where the UK is third on its list of visitor numbers, could be tempered by the UK’s Brexit decision but is sanguine over the effects.

It has been suggested the no-frills operators such as Ryanair and easyJet may have to leave the UK if they still want to ply their trade in Europe.

We have spoken to UK businesses and they believe everybody want to make a successful business,said Mrs Kountoura. I am not going to second guess complicated conversations but focus on the positive.

The number of inbound tourists from China to Greece in the summer season of 2017 is expected to rise significantly, according to data. The projection is confirmed by a notable increase in tax free sales in Greece in the first 3-month period of 2017 compared to 2016.

A mere 150,000 Chinese tourists visited Greece last year, a number that is estimated to be much higher this year. Data released by Premiere Tax Free Greece show that visitors from China are choosing Greece as a destination, reoccupying first spot among the nationalities, as 31% of all Tax Free transactions was covered by Chinese in the first 3 months of 2017.

Chinese national spend an average of 330 euros with a preference to jewellery and clothing.

Russia, FYROM and the US choose our country with great fervour and contribute to a 60% rise in profits via Tax Free transactions in Athens, Rhodes and Thessaloniki”, said Aggeliki Kalogiannidou, marketing manager of Premiere Tax Free Greece.

She went on to add that purchases were up by 109% for Chinese, 65% by Russians, 87% by Americans and 37% by FYROM and Israel, a 200% rise compared to the first 3-month term of 2016.

Athens Tax Free is on top accounting for 52% of Tax Free transactions, while Thessaloniki came in second. It should be noted that two Chinese cultural exhibitions are scheduled to officially open on Thursday, April 27 in the framework of Sino-Hellenic cultural exchange year at the Byzantine and Christian Museum.

GREECE: Greece Tourism Insists On Sunny Outlook Amid Refugee Crisis

Greece, long loved by tourists for its white-washed chapels, sun-kissed islands and turquoise Mediterranean seas, is trying to shake its new image as Europe’s frontline state in the migrant crisis.

At Berlin's ITB, which bills itself as the world's leading travel trade show, Greek tourism professionals are at pains to stress that their crisis-battered country remains a premier holiday getaway.

“We believe that 2016 will be even better than last year because if there were some problems last year on some islands, there is now a return to stability,” said Greek Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura.

“Measures have been taken at the European level and the number of refugee arrivals has declined,” she said, providing an optimistic take as Greece continues to play host to tens of thousands of refugees in tent cities and shelters.

For Greece - long battered by recession and a drawn out financial crisis - tourism is a lucrative and vital sector, making up some 20 percent of gross domestic product and accounting for about one in five jobs.

Greece’s beloved islands, among them world-famous Corfu and Santorini, have long depended on cruise ships and package holiday companies that every year deliver sun-starved Germans, Britons and travellers from elsewhere around the world.

But in recent months the islands especially of the eastern Aegean, some just a few miles off the Turkish coast, have become the EUs main gateway for refugees fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan. More than 131,000 people made the perilous crossings since the start of 2016, of whom 122,000 landed on Greek beaches, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Last year, Greek islands took in more than 840,000 migrants. The so-called “human tsunami” has claimed many lives on the high seas, but has also badly shaken the economies of islands that largely depend on tourism.

On some islands, refugee families with young children have languished in appalling sanitary conditions that are a far cry from the images of seaside resorts and beach tavernas advertised on the brochures at the ITB.

Especially on the picturesque island of Lesvos, hoteliers these days often dread the phone ringing, fearing yet more cancellations by would-be visitors who have been put off by news of the human tragedy.

Market research company Euromonitor said some cruise lines no longer stop in Mytilene, the capital of Lesvos island, which recorded a 90 percent plunge in reservations according to the Greek daily Kathimerini.

In the Dodecanese archipelago, the island of Kos saw bookings plummet by 40 percent.

Mayor of Kos Giorgos Kyritsis, in Berlin for the trade show, stressed the European dimension of the refugee crisis, bemoaning the impact of “very negative” images showing refugees forced to fend for themselves on the streets of his island.

“Last year we were completely surprised by the scale of the influx,” adding that now “we want to promote the island via an Internet marketing campaign and social networks”.

However, Kos faces further headwinds as a tourism destination, with plans to set up a migrant screening and registration centre, dubbed a “hotspot” in EU parlance.

“We don't want our island to be associated with a camp for migrants,” said deputy mayor in charge of tourism Elias Sifakis.

There is a silver lining for the tourism sector: some believe Greece’s reputation for offering warm hospitality will be bolstered by the crisis, Europes largest migrant influx since World War II.

While much of Europe is eager to slam the door on migrants, and a series of Balkans countries have imposed border controls, creating a bottleneck in Greece, the country's people have shown incredible solidarity.

A huge collection organised in Athens has raised tons of food for the refugees.

“The stories showing villagers hosting refugees, providing food and shelter to refugees are very good opportunities to attract tourists,” said Taleb Rifai, secretary general of the UN's World Tourism Organization.

An online petition with several hundred thousand signatures has even called for the Nobel Peace Prize to go to Greek islanders who have come to the aid of desperate refugees, proposing to symbolically award it to a trio that includes a grandmother and a fisherman from Lesvos.