Yiannis A. Retsos, President Hellenic Hotel Federation

Philoxenia 2014 greeting.

The development of the 2014 tourism season showed that Greek tourism not only exceeded the expectations that existed since the beginning of the year, but that it also developed an excellent vitality and brought very satisfying results. Much higher than the international and regional average development rates and quite higher compared to the competition.

The expected results for 19.5 million arrivals and 13.5 billion euros of direct revenue are goals that have been achieved three years ahead of schedule, according to the 2021 Growth Roadmap for tourism.

These figures also revealed the important contribution of tourism to the national economy, employment, local economies and societies and to a wide range of other sectors and professions. The messages from the domestic tourism market are also encouraging. Following a great recession, the first signs of an increase from this very important – for many regions of our country – market have been recorded.

The completion of the financial adjustment reforms and the establishment of targeted development policies by the state, are the basic conditions for the support and preservation of this strength.

Greek hotels, although still operating under a dire financial environment, once more lead the resurgence of Greek tourism this season and, according to international guest satisfaction surveys, they have again verified the high level of services they offer.

For the 2015 period, careful planning and coordinated actions come first. On the one hand, so that the benefits of this season can be capitalized and on the other hand, so that external factors that may influence the international tourism market (such as geopolitical tensions in our neighboring areas, the rate of the euro and the development rates of the larger economies) can be evaluated.

With fruitful concern and even greater optimism, Greek hotels are continuing their course towards even better days.