Katerina Notopoulou, the responsible head of the SYRIZA-PS department, gives her own version of the tourist traffic with her announcement, responding to a corresponding statement by the minister, Vassilis Kikilia.
Mrs. Notopoulou argues: “airline arrivals in Greece are down by 8.1% in the first half of 2022 according to the latest data from INSETE, while the traffic at the country’s major airports such as EL. Venizelos, where a decrease in arrivals is recorded, is causing concern by 23.5% and in MACEDONIA where international arrivals register a decrease of 20.5%. At the same time, road arrivals show a rapid decline of 41.3% (2.3 million in 2022 against 4.04 million in 2019 ) characteristic of tourist traffic mainly in Northern Greece. It should be noted that road arrivals are not at all negligible as in the semester of 2019 they were greater than those by air by 12% (4 million against 3.58 million) and in the semester of 2022 they have lost 1 .67 million arrivals July may have brought optimism for the recovery of tourism after two and a half years of restrictions, but the fact that two-speed destinations are being created with high occupancy in popular destinations and reduced bookings in less popular destinations is cause for concern”.
He criticizes the minister saying that “the celebratory statements of the Minister of Tourism are indicative of the government’s anxiety to convince of the “absolute success story” in tourism, at a time when the energy crisis, high inflation and punctuality are bringing Greek society to its knees” and adds:
“The government does not seriously subsidize domestic tourism and does not even reduce fuel taxes (Excise Duty, VAT) at a time when the country is first in the EU in terms of gasoline prices and ELSTAT reports that 76% of Greeks who traveled to Greece in 2021 traveled by car and 58% of those who did not travel did so for financial reasons.For the evangelists of the lengthening of the tourist season, Greece as of April was last in Europe in the recovery of domestic tourism overnight stays compared to 2019 (-39 %) while Portugal and Spain already had an increase compared to 2019. This, in the same period, brought Greece to 23rd place out of 26 countries in Europe in total overnight stays compared to 2019. Greece had three times the distance compared to with Spain and Portugal in the recovery of overnight stays (Greece: -32.4%, Spain: – 11.48%, Portugal: – 13.7%). 2 million overnight stays in tourist accommodation (hotels, camping, airbnb coke) by Greeks were already lost in the 4th month of 2022 (3.140 million) against 5.149 million in 2019)”.
He cites Eurostat figures on tourism to argue that “price increases in Greece are double the European MO. In Greece, air tickets increased by 46.9% (EU MO 29.9%), the prices of of accommodation in Greece increased +26.9% (EU MO 17.2%), ship tickets increased in Greece 20.4% (EU MO +10.8%) and Road Transport prices in Greece increased +16.1 % (EU MO: +7.2%)”.
In closing, he states that “the reckoning will be made in the autumn and until then seriousness and a plan to support businesses, mainly small and medium-sized and family businesses, which are worried about operating costs due to the explosion of precision, are needed. Two months of increased tourist traffic cannot be enough for the reversal of the climate”.
Source: Capital
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