Die Presse Warns Greece’s Reliance on Tourism Risky

The Greek tourism sector may have helped the country emerge stronger from the crisis, driving the economy with incoming revenue and investments, but Austrian paper Die Presse claims reliance may prove to be risky in the coming years.

According to the Vienna-based daily, Greece has despite the economic crisis managed to double the number of incoming tourists over the past five years, remaining a highly attractive travel destination set to see increasing revenues this year.

“This however also makes the country vulnerable,” the paper adds.

Die Presse notes that the Greek tourism sector’s share of GDP before 2010 was at 15-17 percent reaching 20 percent for the first time last year as all other sectors shrunk. “This, of course, makes the country vulnerable,” the paper said, particularly in view of unexpected tensions in the region or other events that may result in reduced demand.

At the same time, the German-language daily notes that popular destinations such as the Cyclades and particularly Mykonos and Santorini are already reaching their capacity limits.