Riots And Volcanic Ash Hurt Tourism, ATEM

The April and May incidents in Athens reduced initial encouraging expectations for Greek tourism, according to the six-month analysis of Greek tourism activities, released by research group Academy of Tourism Research and Studies (ATEM).

The analysis, for the January-June 2010 period, showed that three factors have affected Greek tourism.

The first factor is Greece’s economic crisis, which drew a series of negative mentions in the press.

The second negative factor is in regards to the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjoell volcano on 14 April, which spread an ash cloud across Europe.

Third, the violent anti-austerity protests in Athens center on 5 May that resulted to the death of four people gave Greece much negative publicity.

According to the report, the three factors have cost Greece 284,600 arrivals, which amounts to 1.83 percent of total arrivals for 2010.

Should there be no further incidents the academy expects incoming tourism to rise annually by 6.3 percent.

According to the report, Greek tourism will see such a rise if the price of oil averages at $80 per barrel and the average euro/dollar exchange rate is 1.45 for the entire year.