Greek Hotel Sector, Tourism Employees See Eye to Eye – Opinion

Photo source: @YARetsos

“For the first time in many years, the hotel sector and its employees have managed to see eye to eye and ensure that the interests of all parties involved are safeguarded, paving the way for a fruitful collaboration and future growth,” Hellenic Federation of Hoteliers (POX) President Yiannis Retsos said in an opinion piece on Sunday in Greek daily Kathimerini.

Representing more than 7,000 hotels across the country, POX and the Panhellenic Federation of Catering Workers and Tourist Profession Employees representing more than 60,000 employees in tourism, signed a collective agreement last week in this direction.

Citing the record number of arrivals at 26.5 million in 2015 and the resultant income to the tune of 14.5 billion euros, Mr Retsos made it clear that for tourism to continue to have a positive impact on the national economy and on the individual lives of its work force, it is vital the all players involved remain united.

Mr Retsos, who is also vice president of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), stressed that despite the difficult economic circumstances and the high unemployment rate at 27 percent, the tourism sector managed to create new jobs contributing in the meantime to an ailing Greek economy.

To read Mr Retsos’ whole opinion piece (in Greek), press here.