Hellenic Parliament, Athens, Greece. Photo © Maria Theofanopoulou
Almost 80 percent of Greeks in a new poll said the government was doing a good job in strengthening the tourism sector.
A Metron Analysis poll released on Friday found that 77 percent of Greeks believe that tourism is the sector where Greece’s government is recording the highest performance.
Conducted on behalf of Mega TV, the poll shows that majorities say the Greek government was also doing a good job in digital transformation (65 percent), in defending the country (61 percent) and in foreign policy (50 percent).
“These are four areas where, despite the individual disagreements expressed by the political parties, there is a consensus,” said Stratos Fanaras, President and CEO of Metron Analysis.
On the other hand, Greeks appeared critical of how the government handles other issues, including labor (62 percent), crime (63 percent), inflation (65 percent) and effectively fighting corruption (68 percent).
The poll saw ruling conservative party New Democracy leading leftist SYRIZA by 8.4 points in the ballot.
Kikilias congratulates Greek tourism professionals, workers
Commenting on the poll, which shows that tourism is the sector where the government is recording the highest performance, Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias thanked the tourism sector’s professionals and workers.
“I owe congratulations and a big thank you to all the people in tourism – to the workers, to the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), to Marketing Greece, to the tour operators, to the hoteliers, to the people who lease their properties for the short-term, to the professionals in primary production and in retail,” the minister told Mega TV on Friday.
Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias.
During an interview, Kikilias referred to the very large, collective effort made this year in tourism, which brought added value and surplus profits to the Greek economy and to the average Greek family.
He added that every possible effort is being made right now to extend Greece’s tourism season, so as to further upgrade the Greek tourist product and attract even more revenue.
The minister also spoke of the trips he made in September to northern and central European countries aiming to attract travelers during the shoulder months and make agreements with airlines and tour operators for 2023, which is expected to be a “difficult year” as 2022 is due to the energy crisis and inflation.
“When Putin entered Ukraine and created a huge crisis, all bookings worldwide froze for a month and the scenarios – and rightfully so – were unfavorable for Greek tourism. And yet, both in terms of revenue and arrivals, we have had an excellent year,” he said.
Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias during his recent visit to Stockholm, Sweden.
Kikilias said he received very encouraging messages from the heads of the airlines during his recent trips to Stockholm, Vienna, Berlin and Paris.
“Lufthansa Group – including Swiss, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings – spoke of increasing flights to Greece by 30 percent in 2023. Air France and Transavia in France spoke of maintaining the number of airline seats and further increasing by 10 percent increase for next season. Austrian Airlines and SAS in Austria told us the same thing, while US airlines have requested to have additional slots and more seats,” the minister said.
