Laws, Regulations & Policies

Greek tourism will soon see new arrangements that include the establishment of the long awaited tourism residential accommodation, according to the Finance Ministry’s omnibus bill tabled in Parliament last month aimed to tackle Greece’s financial crisis.

The possible increase of the VAT on restaurant services to the highest rate, at a time when tourism is trying to lead the Greek economy towards recovery, would seriously reduce the competitiveness and attractiveness of the Greek tourism product, the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) said recently.

The required three-year contract international cruise companies are required to sign with the Greek Government in order to homeport at a Greek port is a “written declaration of cooperation” that may be terminated at any time without any penalty, Maritime Affairs Minister Yiannis Diamantidis recently explained in a press release.

The Schengen treaty constrains Greek tourism and particularly Greece’s “soon to be” biggest markets such as Russia, China, India and Turkey, Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos told the group of Socialist European Parliament deputies in Athens in late March.

The Greek Government has undertaken extensive initiatives to facilitate the arrival of Russian tourists to Greece and visitors from countries such as India and China, Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister George Nikitiadis said at the 18th Moscow International Travel and Tourism (MITT) exhibition that ran 16-19 March.

The Greek Government’s support to new accommodation investments in Attica and Thessaloniki causes unfair competition at the expense of hotels that already exist, the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels recently said in a letter to Regional Development and Competitiveness Minister Mihalis Chrysochoidis in regards to the new development law.

Greece is among the eight Member States that were referred to the European Union’s Court of Justice for failing to properly implement E.U. VAT rules for travel agents, the European Commission announced in late January.

The Pan-Hellenic Federation of Tourism Enterprises (GEPOET) recently wondered where exactly Greek tourism was headed as, according to press reports, travel agencies are assumed to be included in plans to open so-called “closed-shop professions.”

The European Commission blocked a mega merger plan between Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines last month on the grounds that a monopoly would be created in Greek air travel.

“A new era begins for Greek tourism and cruise in our country with the arrival of 2011,” Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister George Nikitiadis said last month after welcoming the Panama-flag cruise ship Fantasia to Rodos. Fantasia was the first cruiseship to approach Rodos Port in 2011.