Industry Reports & Trends

Greek tourism seems to be headed in the same direction it always has, the president of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE), Nikos Angelopoulos, said last month while addressing Greek journalists at the association’s 2009 overview.

Hotels in Attica saw their average hotel occupancy rates drop by 13.62 percent, 9.26 percent and 9.25 percent in five-, four- and three-star hotels respectively during the first nine months of 2009, according to recently announced figures of the monthly study of GBR Consulting.

The Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) recently announced that it is preparing the study “Greek Tourism headed for 2020,” which will include the strategy for building a new development model for Greek tourism. The sole sponsor and supporter of this initiative is Eurobank EFG.

The majority of hotels that modernized their operations and infrastructure and enhanced their overall presence in the domestic and international market held a strong position during the global economic crisis when compared with 2008, according to a research study carried out by the Hotels Association of Magnesia.

Overnight stays of Greeks at various destinations in the country reported significant reductions, which in some cases reached over 20 percent, the Research Institute for Tourism and Forecasting (ITEP) and the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels said recently. ITEP said that hotel revenue was also hit due to the reduced number of overnights of Greeks and foreigners and the lower hotel prices.

Greek shipping recorded a small drop in passenger and freight traffic during the summer period when compared with the same period in 2008, the Ministry of Mercantile Marine, The Aegean and Island Policy recently said.

Turkey has emerged as one of the most popular tourism destinations abroad for Greeks, according to tourist arrival figures recently released by Turkey’s statistical office.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) last month released the international scheduled IATA, which showed a passenger demand decline of 2.9 percent compared with the same month in 2008 while freight demand was down 11.3 percent. The international passenger load factors stood at 80.3 percent.

Thessaloniki presents a significant setback in air transport and shipping, according to a research study conducted recently by the Professional Chamber of Thessaloniki.

Consumer complaints in regards to tourism services amounted to 230 reports from 1 July-15 August compared to 184 complaints filed last year for the same period, the Consumers’ Protection Center (KEPKA) said last month.