Will tourism infrastructure meet demand?
Greece’s biggest challenge in tourism this year will be how to best manage an expected record number of arrivals, as the country already receives a tourism inflow that is almost three times its population every year, according to the new head of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), Yiannis Retsos.
“The needs of this huge number of visitors are moving to another level, which is much more demanding and pressing,” warns Retsos. “This is more so due to the strong seasonal profile of the country’s tourism infrastructures, while in many cases public services and transport infrastructures have not only failed to adjust to the new requirements but even lack basic features.”
The new tourism official deems as “unacceptable” the fact that year after year the same issues keep cropping up despite being well documented. These include the need for better planning to cover additional staff requirements well before the start of the season, mainly cleaning and security workers at the country’s museums and archaeological sites, and particularly its most popular monuments. It also includes the concession for the simple use of seaside spots, the period for the realization of maintenance projects, and so on.
