SETE: 2023 is a Milestone Year for Greek Tourism

SETE President Yiannis Paraschis. Photo source: SETE

Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) President Yiannis Paraschis referred to 2023 as a “milestone year” for Greek tourism, while opening SETE’s annual conference on Tuesday.

Titled “Reframing Tourism” the conference aimed to highlight new trends, challenges and opportunities for a sustainable transition of the Greek tourism sector and initiate a fruitful and productive dialogue with the state, local government and businesses.

“In a few days, 2023, a milestone year and the new reference year for the future developments of Greek tourism is coming to an end,” Parashis said, highlighting the fact that 2023 is the year tourism returned to pre-pandemic conditions, with no travel restrictions.

According to SETE’s president, the tourism year will end with a single-digit increase in arrivals and a double-digit increase in revenue and per capita expenditure compared to pre-Covid 2019, the previous reference year.

“Greek tourism and the brand ‘Greece’ have not only shown special resilience but excellent development dynamics compared to other countries of the region after the pandemic,” he noted.

“The dynamic recovery from the pandemic with an increase in tourist flows, a high interest in investments – and in particular high-level foreign direct investments – but also the increases in prices and revenues of tourism businesses completely changed the dialogue on tourism’s economic sustainability,” Paraschis added.

Priorities, Crucial issues

During his speech, SETE’s president reiterated the five priorities of the confederation’s strategic plan for Greek tourism with a 2030 outlook:

– tourism investments and competitiveness,
– tourism infrastructure,
– the management and promotion of destinations,
– the labor market, and
– sustainability.

“For all of the above, we are asked to contribute to finding solutions through cooperation with the state, local government and all the involved bodies of tourism and other productive classes,” he said.

SETE President Yiannis Paraschis with Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni. Photo source: Greek Tourism Ministry

Referring to the reduction of VAT in restaurants and the rules recently announced for the short-term rental market, Paraschis described them as “positive developments”. He did, however, add that the rules for airbnb-style rentals “need further clarifications”.

Focusing on crucial issues for the sector, he referred to the new spatial planning framework for tourism which is expected to soon go up for consultation; the financing of tourism businesses from the national recovery and resilience fund (RRF), the NSRF and the development law; and green transition matters.

“The resources from the RRF and the NSRF is a unique opportunity that the government and local government must take advantage of in order to avoid an unbalanced and unsustainable development between tourist flows, significant private investments and necessary infrastructure,” he said.

Regarding the establishment of DMMOs (Destination Management and Marketing Organizations), Paraschis underlined the legal framework needs further changes that will ensure the involvement of the private sector and local communities.

Regarding the staff shortages in the tourism sector, Paraschis pointed to an “important structural challenge” in the coming years and highlighted programs to attract human resources training among the main solutions.

“Human resources remains the most critical factor in shaping the tourism product,” he stressed.

Regarding the green transition of businesses, Paraschis announced that SETE in 2024 would launch a program to offer tourism enterprises structured support to commit to sustainable business practices.