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The resorts are too expensive for ordinary people, and luxury tourism in Greece is very cheap

29 June 2011 / 20:06:31  GRReporter
4764 reads

Marina Nikolova

Sun and beaches are no longer sufficient to attract tourists who want to get a full range of "experiences" when looking where to spend their holiday, became clear during the congress "Investment for tourism: Focus on Greece" in Athens. It turns out that the resorts, hotels, and transport are too expensive for the average tourists, while the luxury places do not meet the requirements of the VIPs. The message of the Congress is encouraging, assuming that the "crisis is a period offering new opportunities for tourism in Greece" and we should not miss it, as the Executive Director of Competitiveness, Foreign Affairs and Cooperation at the World Tourism Orgaization Marcio Favilla Lucca De Paula noted. He said that Greece has revenue of 9.5 billion euros for the period from 1995 to 2010 from tourism and it takes the 17th place in the world among the countries with the largest tourist flow.

Some of the challenges facing the country and waiting to be met are to improve the quality of services, to facilitate the access to tourist resorts and attractions by investing in infrastructure and in transactions with cheap airlines as well as in the use of new technologies.

The goals the government, local governments and private businessmen should set are to make long-term program for tourism development and to include it in the government program. All shared the need to make the country attractive for tourists throughout the year, not only during the peak five or six months.

It is necessary to promote the country in a different and new way, to point out that when the tourists arrive in the preferred place they will be able to find people who share their hobbies and interests, and the country will offer them new and unforgettable experiences. It is necessary to diversify and develop congress, health, religious as well as scuba-diving, climbing and yachting tourism, said the Deputy Minister of Tourism and Culture Georgios Nikitiadis. He stressed that the measures for tourism development the government has taken so far include a 50% reduction of value added tax on hotel beds, cancellation of the fees for landing at local airports and of the cruise ships cabotage, and that low fare companies were invited for the first time to enter the market. Since last year, it has become easier for Russian tourists to obtain a visa and 150,000 Russians came on holiday in 2009 while the facilitated procedures brought 410,000 Russians to Greece in 2010. This year, their number is expected to exceed 650,000 people.

"Greece will remain a spectator or will become a major player" said in his presentation Alex Kiriakidis - global managing director for tourism at Deloitte LLP. Whether Greece will take advantage of global growth of tourism, which was 4-5% last year, and whether it will find its niche, taking into account that there are wars taking place in the Mediterranean countries, the prices of oil jumped and now, customers confidence, which is most important, should be won. According to Kiriakidis, Greece could become a major tourist destination but it is necessary to establish an independent Ministry of Tourism, to offer investment incentives, to enter into cooperation with the Federation of Greek travel agencies and to make efforts, so as to attract tourists from emerging markets of Russia and China. The main competitors of Greece are the Turkey, Egypt, Spain, Italy and Croatia, which have strategic plans for the next ten years for tourism development, while Greece does not yet have one.

Another point is the development of new technologies, with which everyone involved in tourism in Greece should be acquainted, which is not always the case. "The customers live on-line, they not only find information but are also actively involved in searching where to go, they make comment in the social networks, buy tickets and book their stay on the network. Electronic tourism brings to light the existing problems. It is unacceptable that tourists can not book a ticket to travel by train after three months or take their tickets for the Acropolis," said Harris Karonis of Viva Online Services.

Currently, 52% of the tourists visit the country during the summer months, when the tourism season in Greece is. But the goal should be to increase tourist arrivals throughout the year, so that they become 42% in summer and are even throughout the year, said John Gikopoulos from McKinsey & Company. It is necessary to increase yachts port as their number is insufficient for 1,000 km of coastline compared with the number of yachts ports in Croatia, for example. For comparison, in Croatia there are 58 marinas on 1,000 km coastline, while in Greece there are 32 marinas in every 1,000 km and in Italy there are 68 marinas in every 1,000 km.

Alarming data for Greece indicate that although Turkey is considered a cheaper destination than Greece, tourists there spend more money a day on the average than when they come to Greece. And while in Greece a tourist spends an average of 146 euros, in Turkey the tourists pays 162 euros, and in Italy – 200 euros, and the average tourist spends for shopping and trips an average of 31 euros in Greece and 42 euros in Turkey, said Gikopulos.

Moreover, 116 out of the 177th sites in the country do not offer appropriate services to meet the tourists. More precisely, Gikopulos’ data revealed that only 19 are suitable for people with special needs, and 42 archaeological sites meet the basic conditions and have toilets and parking lots.

Tags: NewsTourismSunBeachesCruise shipsMarinasExcursionsTrips
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