Improving Greece’s tourism
Tourism is a big part of Greece’s economy and the way it develops will have a significant impact on the country’s present and future.
Any long-term vision for where Greece should be heading cannot but include the tourism model we choose to follow. In this context, efforts to correct numerous deficiencies in the broader tourism industry should be encouraged.
The efficiency and quality of services offered are determining factors that both the government and the private sector should work on.
Nightclubs and hotels violating rules and the country’s areas of natural beauty like its beaches, by blocking access to them or overcharging for their use, has created popular discontent and led to a movement against such practices.
The “revolt” of the last few weeks against the violations seen on many beaches, follows an earlier effort against illegal construction by owners of beach bars, especially on popular islands.
As Greeks identify with their country’s beauty, of which the beaches are a major part, they mobilized quickly against the way things are done. The success of the movement is a welcome and hopeful sign for a healthier tourist sector.
The government for its part should respond to these latest steps in the right direction, with more forceful implementation of existing rules, expeditiously proceeding with tearing down illegal constructions, increasing inspections and issuing hefty penalties to the violators.
It should withstand the pressure from specific interests in the lucrative tourist sector and initiate a stricter legal framework, moves that can only help improve and make even more attractive the product that accounts for about a quarter of the country’s economy.
A healthier tourism model that is better regulated will also be more sustainable. The genuine efforts and pressures from the public and the government’s response and interest should not subside in September.
The common, long-term goal of political parties, businesses and the public as a whole should be a rules-based tourism industry with qualitatively enhanced infrastructure that better serves the millions of visitors who come to Greece injecting billions of euros into the economy every year, and at the same time protects the environment and the country’s natural beauty.
