Elections Expected To Hurt Athens’ Tourism

Any election period and political instability in general is negative for tourism, which in the center of Athens is up against a decrease of 20 percent or more in revenues, the president of the Athens-Attica Hotel Association, Yiannis Retsos, recently told the Greek press.

Mr. Retsos said that the main demands of the hoteliers of Athens (targeted promotion campaign, conference center and security in the city center) would now be postponed virtually until the end of the year.

The president explained that whatever the political outcome of the 4 October elections, the new individuals assigned to key positions would need to be briefed first before they could take action.

“This period is quite important for us because it is the beginning of the winter tourism season,” Mr. Retsos underlined. The president mentioned that the two months of July and August produced low occupancy in the hotels in Athens.

Overall, for the first eight months of 2009 hotels in Athens saw a decrease in revenue by 20-21,5 percent, a 15 percent decrease in occupancy and an eight percent drop in prices.