Greece’s recent devastating forest fires have had scant impact on the country’s overall tourism, as cancellations by tour operators were restricted to the affected areas, mostly in the Peloponnese.
The number of visitors, excluding economic migrants, is estimated to grow by about 7-8 percent, approaching 17 million. The last three-year period has cumulatively been the best in terms of arrivals in 15 years, after four difficult years which ended in 2004, when the number of visitors – including those arriving for the Olympics – reached 13 million that year.
The picture for 2008 is so far unclear, as the medium-term impact of the forest fires cannot be easily assessed. The latest data, for the January-May period, show a rise of 3.5 percent for this year.
They also show a realignment of dispersion among destinations, a well as changes in the numbers from the countries of origin of visitors, which indicates that Greek tourism is developing a new phase of maturity requiring specialized studies at regional level and marketing approaches.
This growth momentum has been maintained irrespective of strong demand for competitive destinations in Turkey, Croatia and Egypt. Part of the growth in 2006 had been partly attributed to a reduction in demand for Turkey, which faced various problems. The euro/dollar parity continues to be developing unfavorably for destinations in the eurozone, but the Turkish lira has also risen by about 12 percent against the euro this year.
The Tourism Ministry has already announced a series of relief measures for the industry in fire-ravaged areas. A senior tourism official told Kathimerini that the “battle” for next year’s season on foreign markets will have to be launched in November, beginning with the World Travel Market (WTM) in London. He also argues that a possible stabilization in the number of visitors at present levels should not be seen as failure, given the steep rise in recent years.
WTM this year will feature a congress on global climatic changes and how they influence the tourism industry.
(Kathimerini)