Industry Reports & Trends

Andreas Andreadis, chairman of the of the Hellenic Hotels Federation, recently informed the Business & Travel show on “sbc” that a drop in arrivals is expected for 2009 as the tourism sector will be up against a difficult period until 2010, when the market will pick up its pace.

Greece falls to ninth place in the top 10 list of desired country brands when it comes to travel, according to the recent release of Country Brand Index 2007: “Greece has great country assets, but needs to be steadier with its brand efforts.”

The European Tour Operators Association recently published a report, titled “Inbound Tourists Go Away and Stay Away for the Olympics,” which reinforces the conclusions of a study it published two years ago that hosting the Olympic Games typically stalls tourism growth.

The Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature—Blue Flag coordinators for Greece—announced a steady increase in Greek Blue Flag beaches with 430 in 2008 compared with 428 in 2007 and 411 in 2006.

A recent study by Sabre Airline Solutions revealed a new breed of “hybrid” carrier is quickly overtaking traditional low-cost carriers and that more passengers travel on this “hybrid” carrier than on traditional low-cost carriers.

A new report by PhoCusWright, a leader in travel industry research and intelligence, is optimistic about the future of travel agents. PhoCusWright’s “Travel Agency Distribution Landscape: 2006-2009” claims that although the Internet has been a significant area of growth and central driver of change in travel distribution over the past decade, the traditional travel agency segment remains significant.

A recent independent survey conducted in Japan showed Corfu as the second most popular destination for Japanese tourists in 2007 amongst UNESCO world heritage site destinations. Japanese tourists are renowned for picking destinations from UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites, of which Corfu’s old town (pictured) was inscribed on in 2007.

The Association of Greek Tourist Enterprises (SETE) and the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) jointly announced Greece has shifted up two positions on the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) released annually by the World Economic Forum. Greece has moved from 24th to 22nd position on the index amongst 130 countries (124 countries in 2007).

The European Cruise Council (ECC) and MedCruise recently announced the cruise industry now accounts for more than a quarter of a million jobs in Europe, over 10 billion euros direct expenditure and 15 million visits to European ports, Greece’s ports being the third most popular cruise destination.

The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) in cooperation with KDS on-demand travel and expense management recently surveyed—for the third year-running—the opinions of an international group of business travelers and travel managers and identified a real desire to reduce the frequency of travel and select “greener” options. The study according to ACTE and KDS shows clear signs that business travel behavior is beginning to change in response to global warming concerns.