A good year for tourism
The tourism figures are impressively strong this summer. The difference can even be seen in Athens, which had been largely snubbed by foreign visitors over the past few years.
That said, Greece ought to redesign its tourism product with vision and professionalism. For example, it’s time we stopped obsessing about how many millions of tourists have visited the country. There is little good in having the Aegean islands packed with low-budget tourists that drive away the big spenders. Perhaps it’s time we followed the example of other destinations which protect their most popular sites by setting a limit on the number of visitors.
Fortunately, the tourism sector is in good hands and a number of serious and practical initiatives are already under way, including plans for new tourism training institutes.
Instead of congratulating ourselves for a strong season this summer, we should start overhauling our tourism industry on the basis of quality criteria.
