Tourism sector faces no crisis, says Tsochadzopoulos

Development minister details state promotion effort, attacks Karamanlis

Development Minister Akis Tsochadzopoulos yesterday refuted claims made by opposition leader Costas Karamanlis and representatives of Greece’s tourism industry that the industry is undergoing a severe crisis and claimed that there is no such crisis.

On Tuesday, Karamanlis, after a meeting with tourism industry representatives, who claimed that tourist arrivals are down at least 10 percent, had accused the government of being apathetic to the “degradation” of a very important sector.

“Mr Karamanlis... ignores the ministry’s policies; he also ignores the actual statistics and has blundered into the usual opposition denunciations, despite acknowledging that tourism is a matter of high national importance,” Tsochadzopoulos said.

The minister said that until the end of June, there was a lag of about 100,000 to 150,000 arrivals. He said, however, that it was too early to make safe predictions about the year, although he ventured one of his own, namely, that visitor arrivals will be at last year’s levels, about 13.3 million. He denied claims of a 10-20 percent drop in business as irresponsible and quoted the findings of a study published this week by the National Bank of Greece showing that average spending per tourist had increased considerably over the past decade. He added that other Mediterranean countries had suffered more from this year’s downturn in tourism, explained in large part by a reluctance to travel following the September 11 terrorist attack on New York last year.

Critics noted that the number of arrivals is inflated because they include economic migrants arriving in Greece; that the industry is suffering because it is offering large discounts to attract customers and is under pressure to continue doing so next year; and that Greece’s prices had risen above the level of “cheap” tourist destinations such as Turkey.

A counterargument, which Tsochadzopoulos, understandably, did not use, is that the Greek tourist industry is paying the price for years of substandard services at inflated prices. He did say, however, that the State is doing its best to aid the sector financially, and that it has secured 600 million euros in EU funds to help businesses improve. A substantial part of this sum, about 40 percent, is set to be awarded in September; there are about 1,500 proposals vying for funding.

Tsochadzopoulos announced that the Greek National Tourist Organization (GNTO) will spend about 40 million euros to promote Greece abroad in 2003, up from slightly over 30 million euros this year. This amount includes operation costs of GNTO offices abroad. Emphasis will be placed next year on alternative forms of tourism because, as Tsochadzopoulos claimed, “mass, seasonal tourism is a model of the past.” The promotion campaign will also include more countries, such as China and Spanish-speaking countries.