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The absence of strikes in tourism shows that it is functioning properly, but the state has no strategy for its most important sector which contributes nearly one-fifth of the gross domestic product of Greece, said the president of the Athens-Attica Hotels Association in an interview with Maria S. Topalova

Mr. Retsos, you are president of the Association of Hoteliers in Athens and the Attica region. Can you tell us which are your members? How many hotels are members of the Association?

Our members are all hotels in Athens and the islands of the Argo-Saronic Gulf. There are approximately 450 hotels in the region. Our active members, ie those who regularly pay their membership fees, are about 300 hotels of all categories - from five star to one star hotels.
 
How does the economic crisis affects the hotels in Athens?

The truth is that after the Olympic Games in 2004 we had four years of progress and 2008 was the best year for tourism in the region of Attica after 1985/86. Unfortunately, after the incident, when a police officer murdered a student in Athens in December 2008, a decline in tourism began here in the region. The main factor was, of course, the economic crisis which has strongly affected Europe and America. So, a decline began in 2009 and we have gone as far as to account reduction in revenue of hotels in Attica, which exceeded 17 percent – it was 17.6%. We entered 2010 generally hoping, not to say confident, that the situation will get a little more stable, and if we do not increase the revenue in 2010, then at least stabilize it. All this increased publicity that our country had in the first four months of the year due to the assistance of the IMF have created, say, a bad image of Greece, which impacted negatively on tourism in the Attica area. Currently, we have the data for the first five months and they show a decline in our revenue in the range of 8%. If the situation stabilizes at this figure, this is something we could handle and look more positively to the next 2011.

Greek press often writes that the strikes and marches in the center of Athens reflect poorly on hotels and tourism in general. Is there any truth in these allegations?

Yes, there is. Of course, we should say that things in Athens and Greece very often are  presented much worse than they really are. We see daily processions to be organized not only here in Greece but in other countries worldwide, in times of global economic crisis. There are processions in Spain, France, in many countries. We, the professionals here in Greece, deal with the problem in the same way. Unfortunately, we had the misfortune of this terrible incident that happened during a strike – the arson of a bank and the tragic death of three people. It certainly set out a very bad image, and certainly much worse than what is happening in Greece and Athens. This was a tragic incident, an accident. But it was a single case. That does not mean Greece is a country where there is unrest, it does not mean that Athens is troubled destination. Processions are made and will be made and this is inevitable because people have problems. Тhe measures taken are very unpleasant, and indeed employees generally can not accept them and respond, and they must respond in many cases. This does not mean that it is a turbulent city. It is a city just as beautiful and safe as it was a year ago and five years ago. And we have to join hands on that.

Is there a regional difference of how hotels are affected by the crisis? Some areas, for example, are more vulnerable, while others run better?

Economic crisis affects all in the same way, but I'd say it affects more the best and expensive hotels, because people, our guests, now are seeking to pay less and often demand better services. Due to the extraordinary, to say, situation because of the strikes held over the past four months, downtown hotels are more affected as they are in areas where marches usually pass. There is now this impression out there that some visitors may experience discomfort if there is a strike in one of those days. This leads to a greater drop in hotels located in the city center, ie near Syntagma Square, compared to other hotels that are away.  

Besides strikes and marches, there are taxes that have been steadily increasing, VAT and other taxes. How does it affect hotel prices?

This very much affects mainly the competitiveness of our products and hotels. We have hard currency in Greece anyway, because we are part of the Eurozone. Many of our competitors, at least in this respect, are in much more advantageous position. Istanbul, say, is one of the most important city break destinations in Europe. Its currency, the Turkish lira, is weak but may be devalued when required resulting in better competitiveness. We have been experiencing the increasing of VAT and other taxes over the past year and a half. At the same time our competitors in Western Europe, in Germany, France, even in Spain and Cyprus, have reduced the VAT, at least in terms of tourist services and hotels, and as a result are now much more competitive. This is an issue we have repeatedly raised. On the other hand, we understand the present situation in the country, provided that it has come under the umbrella of the IMF and the EC less than two months ago. And we know it is difficult to insist on tax cuts at least in the current situation.

What about the end price, the one that the customer, the tourist pays? Is there a decrease, an increase?

Look, let me tell you that generally Athens, especially after the Olympic Games, has one of the most modern hotel and tourism products in Europe. All hotels in town are completely renovated after 2004. We have a new airport, if not the best, then one of the top three in Europe. We have new roads. That is, there is a modern and very good quality product. In terms of pricing now, like I said before, there is the issue of competitiveness and we know that we can not compete only in terms of prices. What we are trying to do and give our members is the correct quality-price ratio, ie what our Greek or foreign guests pay, they get it in terms of quality. I think prices in the Attica area are quite reasonable, and also because more than 60% of the bookings there and in Athens are made online. So, prices act as a stock exchange product, ie in a hotel you can see different price every day for three consecutive days depending on supply and demand. So, I think that most of the hotels in Athens offer fair price for their products. What we encourage our members currently, in the midst of the crisis, is not to decrease prices but to take care the price of the product they sell to meet its quality.

Is there a change in customers? That is, are there customers of the same level as before?

Yes, I can not say that we have customers of lower or higher level. We have the traditional customers who come here and we expect them to continue to come. There was a serious increase in American tourists after the Olympics, something we have lost in recent years. There is an issue that didn’t help us, at least not until recently, and this is the euro-dollar ratio. We were very expensive, not only in Greece but throughout Europe, due to the dollar depreciation. We are becoming more attractive for American tourists for the correction made in recent months, and we expect them and hope they will start to come again. We hope the number of American tourists in Greece to increase.

Which country has the largest share?

In the Attica area, I would say Americans, Germans, Englishmen and Frenchmen, and then Greeks and Cypriots, especially in winter months.

We talked about tourists. Now I would like to ask of those who are working in the hotels. Are there many dismissals?

There weren’t many dismissals in the Attica region. I can tell you that there was almost no redundancy. What occurred over the past year and a half is a more rational management of hotels. In order to cope with the large drop in revenue, which I mentioned, no new officers are appointed to replace those who leave due to retirement or because their term contract expiration. So, hotels take care not to immediately appoint new employees, but to recruit seasonal workers, if necessary, or if some urgent need arises. There wasn’t a wave of redundancies and we try to do what we can to prevent it.

Can you estimate anyhow what you expect from this year's tourist season?

You see, this year is very difficult. And although it is not lost yet, I am more concerned of what will happen in the near future. And I believe that we have prospects. Tourism is the main branch of Greece, which provides 18.5 percent of GDP. We should all get to invest in this activity. So, we have prospects, as long as things settle down a little. The IMF has recently come to Greece though. People are somewhat confused, often angry and surprised. This leads, as we said before, to those strikes, processions, and in general to this situation that does not help our tourism. I believe when things calm down a little and the results of people’s sacrifices become evident, we will have a future. Because we have a very good product, quality product, and we have many things in which we can be very competitive. I want to be optimistic in this difficult situation, if not for this year, then at least for the next year.

Do you find the government efforts to improve the image of Greece internationally efficient?  
 
See, unfortunately our governments have not invested in tourism in general diachronically over the past 30 years and have taken many wrong strategic actions. Surely you've heard about how many tourism ministers, chief secretaries and presidents of Greek Tourism Committee have changed over the past 30 years. That post was held for six months on the average. This means that there is no sound strategy needed if you want to develop tourism. We are trying now. But there is a serious problem in terms of advertising because recent governments have left obligations to foreign networks of over € 100 million. These debts are not settled yet and we are in a very unpleasant situation at the moment as there is no communication channel from the Government and the Ministry of Tourism to foreign networks. If these debts from the past 5-6 years are not settled, it will be very difficult to send your messages out and to implement all the advertising activities you want.  

You mentioned the competitiveness of Greek tourism several times. A possibility of Greece to leave the Eurozone and return to the drachma is being discussed lately. How could this affect tourism in Greece?  

I believe this is a disastrous scenario, ie do not believe that there is a possibility of survival of the country outside the Eurozone. To say that if we leave the Euro and return to the drachma would make us more competitive is wrong. Greece's main problem today is not its competitiveness but its external debt. Leaving the Eurozone, the Euro and returning to the drachma will not solve the problem of external debt. Rather it will become still more serious because we will have to devalue the currency. Therefore, no matter how competitive we would be then there is no way to gain such revenues that can pay this debt. Also we will be separated from the rest of the world, because, in practice, we would be like a bankrupt company that noone wants to fund. This is a disastrous scenario for me and it is a mistake to consider that by leaving the Eurozone Greece and the Greek tourism will become more competitive.

Are there strikes in the tourism industry?

There have never been strikes in the tourism industry. I think this also proves our industry is functioning correctly. Of course, the employees and each syndicalist often pursue things believed to be correct for the branch, or they protest and point problems out. In any case, the image of our industry, not only in Attica but also in Greece, and the reluctance, if you wish, of our staff and employees to participate in these mass strikes, reflect the proper functioning of the tourism industry.