Tourism Report On Greece Not Positive

The Greek tourism market is forecast to show further marked falls of 20 percent year-on-year in occupancy rates from the first quarter of 2009, according to official data from a recent market research report of companiesandmarkets.com.

After a relatively strong annual growth in foreign tourist arrivals of 8.5 percent in 2007, the report expects a slight negative growth in 2008, when final data is received.

The report is based on official data that records a marginal year-on-year decline on the number of foreign tourists that visited Greece between January and October 2008.

According to the report, due to the wave of political unrest, which manifested itself in street violence across Greece last December, the tourism industry is likely up against further damaging consequences.

In regards to the Greek hospitality sector, the report mentioned a major downturn.

Following sharp falls in occupancy rates in Athens and the greater Athens area at the end of 2008, the most recent data for the first quarter of 2009 showed further marked falls of 20 percent year-on-year in occupancy rates, with just 49 percent of rooms in three- to five-star hotels occupied over that period. This compares with 60 percent of occupancy rates in the first quarter of 2008.

The research report of companiesandmarkets.com said that recent data confirmed that the Greek tourism sector is likely to face an extremely difficult year in 2009.

The report also focused on passenger numbers from Athens International Airport, which “show a worsening trend.”

The most recent data is in regards to the first quarter of 2009 and record an eight percent year-on-year decline in passenger traffic, while numbers also fell a marked 12 percent in March, compared with the same month in 2008.

This shows that the number of international passengers declined over 12 percent year-on-year in the first quarter and fell a considerable 16 percent year-on-year in March.

According to the report, recently released 2008 financial results for Aegean Airlines showed that revenues were up 27 percent (611.7 million euros) that resulted from a significant rise in international passenger traffic and high load factors sustained on both the domestic and international networks.

However, the airline recorded a net profit of 29.5 million euros, down 18 percent from the previous year.

The report said that the fall in profitability was mainly due to a 54 percent annual rise in fuel costs that reached 148 million euros.