Greece’s Hoteliers Call for Improved Border Point Services

Ahead of the peak summer season when thousands of travelers visit Greece by road, the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation (POX) is calling on the government to take actions that will facilitate road tourism.

In a letter to Infrastructure & Transport Minister Christos Staikouras, POX stressed that “ensuring the seamless arrival of road tourists is a matter of survival, particularly for businesses operating on the mainland in Northern Greece, where road tourists account for the vast majority of their customers”.

Although the entire region and its businesses rely on tourism, the poor conditions at the country’s border crossing points do not correspond with country’s overall reputation as a leading tourism destination.

Among others, hoteliers referred to the long queues and waiting hours in the summer months as well as to insufficient infrastructure which are creating inconvenience and bad impressions among tourists visiting Greece for their holidays.

POX said that it had already tabled the issue and recommendations to the Greek Tourism Confederation’s (SETE) board of directors. Among others, improving the building infrastructure, hiring more staff, and timely planning are of utmost importance, POX said, adding that the government had committed to allocated funding for infrastructure upgrades and supplies.

Lastly, POX requested a teleconference with all stakeholders and decisionmakers so that solutions are found and implemented promptly ahead of the tourism season.

Indicatively, the number of road arrivals in Northern Greece marked a 31.6 percent rise in the 11 months to November 2023 over the same month in 2022. The region welcomed 9.9 million tourist arrivals by road compared to 7.6 million in the same period in 2022.