Trade Associations

At the recent Greek forum on tourism held by government leaders, it was found that Greece’s tourism sector contributes two of every 10 euros within the country’s economy, or 18% of its gross national product. And for every single euro that a visitor spends, the rest of the country’s economic sector creates an additional two euros.

Not too long ago, government said that a law would be implemented to encourage the construction of golf courses in Greece.

The final touches to the first national land-planning map, and to the special land-planning framework for tourism, industry and recyclable energy sources, are being enacted by Greece’s minister of the environment, planning and public works, Giorgos Souflias.

With 842 million arrivals and a 4.5% growth rate, 2006 exceeded expectations as the tourism sector continued to enjoy above average results, making it a new record year for the industry. The latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer figures suggest that 2007 will consolidate this performance and turn into the fourth year of sustained growth.

With distinct hopes of breaking last year’s record number of tourism arrivals (up 10 percent over the year before), Greece launched its 40-million-euro advertising campaign (run by the consortium Ashley & Holmes Athens/Karamella) at a gala dinner last month. The campaign, with the motto “Greece: Explore Your Senses,” is targeted at 1 billion people worldwide, according to Tourism Development Minister Fanni Palli-Petralia.

Greece’s tourism development minister, Fanni Palli-Petralia, says she intends to change the country’s tourism image this year through institutional changes in both the public and private tourism sector.

Hoteliers are voicing strong opposition to a clause in the new investment incentives law that provides for subsidies of at least 15 percent for the construction of new hotels in Athens and Thessaloniki.

On the occasion of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels’ annual New Year’s reception, the president of the chamber, Makis Fokas, said that last year proved to be exceptional tourism year for the second time in a row, in both the number of arrivals to Greece and the amount of tourism revenue posted. “2006 proved to be a good year for the total tourism sector, but also for hotel enterprises.”

Stavros Andreadis, president of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises, last month called for the formation of a single lobbying agency for Greek employers. One, he said, that would represent businesses in proportion to their contribution to the national economy.

The Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises has forecast a rise of around 8 percent in tourism arrivals this year, with more than 14 million tourists visiting Greece. The association says that tourist arrivals were up 7.2 percent from a year ago in January-October, compared with a 5.6 percent rise in 2005, and that the trend is set to continue.