ECONOMY

Tourism’s 10-step recovery path

Tourism’s 10-step recovery path

The Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) has drafted a 10-step action plan to get Greece’s main growth engine going again after the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The plan was submitted to the government on Friday in a letter SETE President Yiannis Retsos sent to the prime minister following discussions between the two men about the state of tourism on Thursday. The 10 steps are the following:

1) Cooperation with other European states for a recovery plan as tourism and transport will not be able to operate without common European protocols for health controls as regards travel.

2) A targeted promotional campaign through the cooperation of the Tourism Ministry, the Greek National Tourism Organization and Marketing Greece. This has already started with the “Greece From Home” initiative, while the legislative initiatives to come will strengthen it further.

3) Value-added tax reductions from June 1 for as along as it takes to recover the ground lost.

4) Employment subsidy programs from the day the economy picks up until the end of 2020.

5) The suspension of the income tax deposit payment for 2020.

6) The suspension of the stayover levy that tourists pay.

7) Liquidity instruments for restarting tourism enterprises. A guarantee program has already been announced with collateral of 2 billion euros from the Development Bank that leverage could raise to 7 billion.

8) A halt on the payment of loan installments for the whole of 2020 and their postponement until the end of the duration of the loan, with a year’s extension.

9) The resumption of subsidy payments from the Partnership Agreement for the Development Framework of the European Union, with the option of subsidizing eligible investments in constructions, technology and services.

10) Special competitiveness measures as regards infrastructure charges for 2020-21. The aviation ecosystem (air carriers, airports, ground services etc) requires special attention. Networks, infrastructure and companies in aviation need to be assisted while taking into account that each company is a special case.

Subscribe to our Newsletters

Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights, opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox.

By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.