V. Kikilias at EVEA: Tourism is the popular economy of Greece

V. Kikilias at EVEA: Tourism is the popular economy of Greece

The Minister of Tourism, Vassilis Kikilias, spoke about the contribution of Greek Tourism and its added value to the Greek economy, Greek entrepreneurship and mainly to trade, during his speech at yesterday’s meeting of the Board of Directors of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“Tourism is not a matter for the few, it is a matter for the many. It is the locomotive of the Greek economy, as 1 in 4 euros of the country’s GDP comes, directly or indirectly, from tourism activity. It is one of the main business activities in Greece “, pointed out Mr. Kikilias.

Mr. Kikilias made special reference to the commercial sector and the commercial stores, which are directly related to the tourist product and are essentially the largest part of the commercial world of the country. “We support the hotel industry, but also the hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens who are involved in trade – especially small and medium-sized businesses – processing, the various services that are directly interconnected with the tourism product,” he said.

As the Minister of Tourism stressed, “our strategy supports the traditional and dynamic branches of entrepreneurship. In our arsenal are both the attraction of new investments in key sectors of the Greek economy, which will give the impetus needed by Tourism, and the strengthening of our infrastructure and the preservation of the quality of the offered tourist product related to the carrying capacity “.

Mr. Kikilias referred to the resources of the Recovery and Sustainability Fund, which are used in critical projects for tourism development, such as destination management, mountain tourism, health and wellness tourism, agritourism and gastronomy, the upgrading of tourist ports and the projects related to the accessibility of the tourist destinations by the disabled. As he underlined, “this is 320 million euros from the RRF, which will contribute decisively to the further strengthening of both our tourism product and small and medium-sized entrepreneurship, as tourism development is inextricably linked to the improvement of entrepreneurship”.

Closing his speech, Mr. Kikilias characterized the economy of Tourism, as the popular economy of Greece which returns the dividend of its success to the average Greek family.

“When the business fund increases, so does the wallet of every Greek woman and every Greek,” he said characteristically.

Source: Capital