Hotelier Federation Warns Of Tourism Revenue Slide

“The current tourism leadership, just like the previous one, has managed to devalue the country’s tourism product by some 15 percent, causing tourism’s contribution to Greece’s GDP to shrink from 18 percent in 2008 to 15 percent this year,” according to President of the Hellenic Federation of Hoteliers Andreas Andreadis.

Mr. Andreadis released an announcement to the Greek media last month and said Greek tourism revenues would drop seven to nine percent in 2010 following last year’s 12 percent decrease.

He was highly critical of the current and previous tourism leadership and called on the government for the re-establishment of the ministries of tourism and shipping.

The federation’s president stressed the need for the creation of a promotion agency based on the models of Maison de la France or Visit Britain.

On the Culture and Tourism Ministry side, Deputy Minister Yiorgos Nikitiadis recently said the low visitor numbers are temporary and could be covered by last-minute bookings.

“The number of visitors who make last-minute bookings is increasing… The trend is changing and reservation cancellations are turning into bookings,” he told the press.