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Despite political and economic setbacks and the refugee crisis, tourism in Greece looks promising. Debbie Ward reports.
Tourism to Greece has not been significantly damaged by tourist concerns during the country’s economic crisis and refugee arrivals. Many markets are showing improvement on last year and tourism receipts are expected to rise.
Provisional arrivals data shows a rise of 21% for January-June compared with the same period last year, with a significant rise from Italy (up more than 100% January-March) and from France. Holiday bookings across overseas markets showed a 46% rise over the first quarter compared with 2014.
From the UK, the Leisure Travel Monitor report from analyst GfK Ascent, showed package holiday bookings to Greece for summer 2015 were up by 2% in the year to July. Individual islands showed a more marked rise, particularly Santorini, up 30% January-June.
From Germany, Tui reports bookings slightly above last year’s record level and some “temporary booking reluctance”, but only for a few days during periods of negative media coverage.
“This shows that despite the political and financial situation, Greece and her islands are proving to sustain their positions as enduring holiday favourites for many travellers around the world,” says Panos Livadas, Greek National Tourism Organisation secretary general.
“We have been closely monitoring the situation with our trade partners overseas and, where necessary, shifted the focus of our co-funded marketing campaigns to help boost their last-minute bookings to Greece.”
In July the GNTO, in collaboration with SETE (Association of Greek Tourism Businesses), put together a social media campaign called Happening Now. “This encouraged travellers from around the world to share their summer 2015 experiences in Greece, showing that throughout this period visitors were actually enjoying holidays as normal and undisturbed,” says Livadas.
Tourists also appear to be spending more. Receipts from source markets abroad rose by 8% in January-June compared with the first half of 2014. Germany’s spend increased by 18%, France’s by 21%, the UK’s by 30% and the US’s by 33%.
This summer, airlift additions to Athens included six weekly flights from Vienna with Air Berlin subsidiary Niki Airlines; a new Germanwings route from Dusseldorf; a Korean Air charter from Seoul; Ryanair from Budapest and Bratislava; and a host of new Aegean Airlines routes linking the capital with Paphos, Naples, Malta, Dubrovnik, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Helsinki, Oslo, Pisa, and Tallinn.
The islands particularly benefited from new airlift from the UK. British Airways added flights across three London airports to Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, Kos, Mykonos and Santorini.
Jet2.com debuted Zante from Newcastle and Belfast, and Kefalonia from Leeds Bradford and Manchester, while easyJet introduced Preveza from Gatwick.
Thomas Cook will be expanding into the islands. “Forecasts for the coming year remain positive, with Thasos coming onboard as a new destination for the UK and Austrian markets for summer 2016 after proving popular in the four Nordic countries for 2015,” says Thomas Cook Group chief commercial officer Bjorne Sandstrom. The operator’s other new summer 2016 routes include Gatwick-Rhodes, Bristol-Kefalonia and East Midlands-Crete.
Among new attractions in Greece, the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) is due to open shortly in a former brewery in Athens. The revamped Piraeus Port Cruise facilities should be completed by the end of the year, increasing its mooring capacity. For private vessels, a new marina has opened on a trial basis on Rhodes.
As the only Greek marina that can accommodate yachts up to 120 metres, it expects to attract mega-yachts.
The privatisation of 14 Greek regional airports should be completed next year, affecting several islands, and Crete is to gain a new international airport.
Despite Greece’s financial difficulties, resort projects continue. Construction starts next year on Crete’s Plaka Bay project, which will include a hotel and a golf course, due for completion in 2018.
On the mainland, at Hellenikon, after 15 years of disuse, the site of the former Athens airport is to be transformed into a resort. The project, with backing from Abu Dhabi and China, includes five hotels, a park, shopping malls and museums. Subject to legal approval, work could start next year, although completion is not expected until 2025.
One project proposed to open next year is Canister Paliouri at Halkidiki, incorporating a 640–bed five-star hotel, wellness centre and restaurants. The hilltop hotel will incorporate 62 luxury rooms fed by natural hot springs.
Greece’s outlook is promising. Analyst Canadean projects a steady increase across several source markets to 2019. It predicts a dip in Russian visitors this year as the country experiences its own financial difficulties stabilising in 2016. However, Turkey and Serbia are expected to overtake Russia in arrival numbers by 2019, with Canadean projecting that they will send more than 1.45 million annual visitors apiece.
Euromonitor travel analyst Wouter Geerts would not be surprised to see an overall dip in arrivals this year. However, as 2014 was a strong year for Greek arrivals, he says the destination could capitalise on this as economies in source markets stabilise and Greece picks up some tourists lost to Tunisia over security fears.
For hotels, the increasing price of accommodation as VAT rises from 6.5% to 13% is a hurdle. Geerts says: “Tourists are expected to trade down to less expensive budget hotels as well as resorting to camping and self-catering.” Larger players, he says, may offer flash discounts to offset the tax hike.
The GNTO aims to expand on its already high number of marketing partnerships with overseas operators and airlines. “[We’re] aiming to promote tourism to Greece during the lesser-visited shoulder months, introduce off-the-beaten-track destinations and authentic Greek experiences targeting niche markets,” says Livadas. He is heartened by the recent take-up of some lesser-known Greek destinations by UK operators such as Ammouliani in Northern Greece from Sunvil Holidays, and Epirus and the Pindos mountains from Ramblers Holidays.
Key to WTM this year will be a focus on innovative holiday experiences including gastronomy, city breaks, soft adventure, responsible tourism and wellness. Upcoming campaigns will stress Greece’s diversity and targets will include the emerging tourism markets of the Middle Eastern and BRIC countries.
