The tourism industry in Greece is at its peak, since the positive auspicious forecasts for the course of the season are threatened by the developments in the Middle East which are characterized by a slow-burning bomb.
The country’s tourism market is watching the events with particular concern but also with calmness, with all the agencies involved remaining alert to the potential impact on the industry should the situation deteriorate further.
For now, it is estimated that the influence on travel flows is limited, provided, of course, that the war does not escalate with the involvement of more countries and does not prolong its duration, threatening the positive climate, a few weeks before the official start of the tourist season.
“Elasticity”
The president of the Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers (POX), Yannis Hatzis, in a first comment on the new data, underlines: “Tourism is a sector of the economy with high elasticity in demand that is affected by many factors, with the feeling of security playing a primary role roll. Therefore, we must closely monitor the developments regarding the geopolitical crisis in the Middle East. However, it is still too early to assess whether and how this will affect Greek tourism.”
On the same wavelength and the president of the Athens-Attica-Argosaronic Hotel Association, Lambrini Karanassiou-Zoulovich, who underlined the need not to be complacent, adding, however, that it is still premature to draw any conclusions. The tourism market and furthermore the hotel market are on a wait-and-see attitude, remaining on the lookout for developments in the region, which are causing concern all over the world anyway. “We continue to do our work, we happily await the visitors and we are optimistic that the predictions for another successful tourist year for our country will be confirmed”, stressed Ms. Zulovic.
Escalation
However, as history has proven that the effect of uncertainty on tourists’ choices is catalytic, the possibility of an escalation of the outbreak near the Aegean could lead to a change of “sailing” for travelers from countries outside the EU, such as the USA.
Possible escalation in the wider region – something that everyone avoids – will have an impact on air transport, but also on the number of visitors.
As far as the American market is concerned, however, the landscape remains murky, as current estimates would be premature.
On the contrary, Greece seems to be winning Europe’s bet, with tourists from key markets of the “old continent” choosing our country. If everything goes smoothly, Germany, England and France will be the main protagonists in the arrivals of foreign visitors to Greece in 2024.
POSITIVE MESSAGES
“Calm waters” for the cruise
The cruise industry remains unaffected, for now, and there is optimism for this year’s course, despite international developments.
The messages for this year are positive, as last year’s performance has succeeded in attracting more and more major industry “players” to Greek ports.
Companies that have included Greek ports in their itineraries include, for example, Silversea Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Viking Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Costa Crociere, Celestyal Cruises, Marella Cruises , MSC Cruises and Carnival Cruises.
Some of them choose the country’s ports for homeporting as well, giving a further boost to the performance of Piraeus, Thessaloniki, Santorini and Mykonos, as well as Heraklion, Rhodes and Corfu.
In addition, to the extent that hostilities continue during 2024, some of the loss in receipts from travelers originating in Israel may be covered by increased cruise ship calls to Greek ports, due to the cancellation of calls to Israeli ports.
Last year
Let’s remember that last year the cruise had excellent performances. Specifically, in the country’s 49 ports, the total arrivals of cruise ships reached 5,230 and the number of passengers reached 7 million, showing an increase of 9% and 51% respectively compared to 2022.
Source eleftherostypos.gr
