Greeks will spend less time and money on their vacations and the average amount, which they will be able to afford is…?600! The small amount will force them to rest less than before. This information is based on a research by Kapa Research, which was presented on the “Tourist panorama” exhibition in Athens last night.

Based on the research, Greeks will go on vacation for 7 to 10 days, instead of the usual 3 to 4 weeks and they will prefer the “cheaper” months, like June and September instead of July or August. Last year 19.7% of Greeks have had a one week vacation and this year the percentage has increased to 27.6%. Last year, 23.6% have taken a break for 10 days and this year they are 28.7%. The ones who will rest for two weeks remain the same this year too – 21%. 13% have said that they will not rest at all this year. And for the first time, the majority of Greeks said that they will go on vacation for 7 to 10 days – 56%!

Despite the economic crisis and maybe because of it, 89.1% are not willing to take a consumer loan, in order to go on vacation. The tourist flood to the islands will be less, because the ferry and airplane tickets are more expensive. The visit to the Cycladic Island will decrease from 19.1% to 13%. The same goes for the Ionian, Dodecanese Islands and Crete. More people will go to Peloponnese, Halkidiki and continental Greece – last year they were 6.7% and this year they will be 11.2%. A big part of Greeks will prefer to go abroad this year. The number of those people is the biggest for the last 8 years.

Also 59.6% of Greeks believe that the tourist industry needs to shrink prices. The same appeal was sent by the Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, because the tourist industry needs to be adequate to the economic situation at the moment. 52% of the surveyed believe that the economic crisis provides a chance for the Greek tourism to become more competitive when it comes to prices and quality of the offered services.