Crete Hoteliers Dispute Central Bank Figures for 2019 Revenue

Hospitality professionals on the island of Crete are sceptical about revenue data released recently by the Bank of Greece (BoG), arguing that the figure was much lower than reported.

More specifically, in reference to BoG figures of a 13.9 percent rise in revenues for the January-September to 3.19 billion euros, the island’s hoteliers are arguing that the increase is much lower.

“These figures are incorrect. I do not know how the Bank of Greece computes these figures but they certainly do not correspond to reality,” Heraklion Hotel Association President Nikos Chalkiadakis told Greek online newspaper Patris.gr, adding that the nine-month increase does not exceed 2 percent.

Manolis Tsakalakis, president of the Rethymno Hoteliers Association, backed Chalkiadakis claims: “We have different figures than the BoG,” noting that the 13.9 percent rise covers revenue generated by all forms of tourist accommodation and not only by hotels. Tsakalakis places the increase at around 5 percent.

According to BoG data for the nine-month period in 2019, Crete recorded 3.194,7 million euros in revenues, 4,584 million arrivals, and 38,273 million overnight stays with average spending per visit at 696.9 euros.

The accuracy of tourism data has often created disagreement among sector stakeholders who have repeatedly called on the government to set up a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), a United Nations-recognized standardized measurement that provides a more accurate and objective assessment of statistical data for tourism. In this direction, last fall, Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis and Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) President Athanasios Thanopoulos signed a memorandum paving the way for a TSA, scheduled to be completed over a four-year period.