V. Kikilias: Tourism increases the income of the Greek family, compensating for the accuracy due to the energy crisis

“Tourism increases the income of the Greek family, compensating for the accuracy due to the energy crisis.” This was emphasized, among others, by the Minister of Tourism, Vassilis Kikilias, in an interview on the OPEN show “Now what is happening”. “We work for the middle Greek family, the middle class, the popular strata. This is the nature of the Ministry of Tourism. It is a development, economic, investment ministry. Large investments and infrastructure projects are coming that give great dynamism to Greek tourism. The middle Greek family, small and medium-sized businesses in Greece are waiting to be strengthened and stimulated by the extension of the tourism product and the opportunity for everyone to see an increase in income in their pockets. “In a difficult time of a global energy crisis, I believe that in 2022 tourism is the one that will pay a dividend and support the Greek family,” he said.

Regarding the revenues of 2022, the minister stated that “while in 2021, revenues from tourism were budgeted at 5-6 billion euros. Finally, according to the data of the Bank of Greece, the revenues are 10.4 billion euros. for 2021 and the prospects for 2022 are very good.This money goes to the average Greek family, which has the small and medium business, from the rooms to the small accommodation and the small hotel on our islands or in the mountain destinations, the “Health shops or a commercial enterprise in the tourist areas, those who transport the world. It is a huge industry. It is the locomotive of the Greek economy, because it contributes 25% of the country’s GDP. It is our popular economy and concerns everyone,” he said. the minister.

In the meantime, he referred to the promotion campaign of Greece, emphasizing that for the first time EOT and the Ministry of Tourism are campaigning all year round. “In the winter, for the first time in history, we promoted Greece for winter destinations. And now we are campaigning abroad for the city break, ie for Friday weekends in 12-month hotels. The demand is very high, because after 2-2 “People want to travel for 5 years of a pandemic. We urge European citizens to come to Athens and Thessaloniki and do a Greekend instead of a weekend. A campaign that has already gone viral and will be extended to other major cities in Greece,” he said. the minister.

Finally, the data from the agreements closed by the ministry and the reservations are very encouraging, said Mr. Kikilias, adding the following: “The CEO of TUI announced that” out of 1.5 million travelers, we will bring 3 million in 2022 ” .

I met with the US Ambassador to the Department of Tourism and we announced together that the first flight from America will be on March 7, earlier than ever, with 14 direct flights a day, starting in April. We announced our agreement with the Canadian ambassador, with the first direct flight from Canada to Greece on April 2. Yesterday, the ambassador of Greek origin, Australia, came and informed me that 2022 will probably be the top year in which Australians, expatriates and non-expatriates will travel to our country. We will open in early March. We have an increase of cruise in Thessaloniki and Northern Greece by 187% and in the port of Piraeus 123%. January bookings for the summer of 2022 are 20% higher than the corresponding period of 2019, while February is going very well. “All of this is very encouraging and important – both psychologically and substantively,” Kikilias concluded.

Source: AMPE