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Victoria Mindova

One of the many victims of the deepening financial and political crisis is Greek tourism, which plays a crucial role in the economy of the Mediterranean country. Reports of permanent unrest, clashes between discontented citizens and police, burned banks and closed companies are leaving a bitter taste in outside observers. Political instability and speculation about whether Greece will return to the drachma have caused the situation to disintegrate further and travel agencies have recorded an outflow of tourists from traditional "Greek" markets. Here is how Nicholas Kelaiditis from the Hellenic Association of Travel and Tourist Agencies commented on the developments exclusively for GRReporter.

Do you expect a decline in tourist flows for the 2012 season?

The decline could be 10%, 15% or 20% compared to last year and it is not good. As you see, this drop is posing serious problems to travel agencies. The biggest problem, however, remains market liquidity. Banks have stopped financing real business. As a result, we cannot make new investments because our savings are not huge. At the same time, the reputation and status of the companies are no longer important mainly because there is uncertainty. Speculations that Greece will exit the euro area are false and disastrous for the local business.

Political games are being played behind the scenes and our business partners want to see how things will develop. Until six months ago, we had excellent relations with our Italian counterpart, to which I could pay my obligations with delay because of the good business relations we had established through the years. Now, this practice can no longer apply. All our partners want to be prepaid for their services and not two or three days before the departure of the group but at least two weeks before that.

What measures can the real business take to neutralize the uncertainty resulting from the political system in Greece?

A week before the re-election, representatives of tourism met with members of the two major political parties (New Democracy and SYRIZA). It became clear from the discussions that political representatives agree that there should be support for tourism as well as that the image of Greece should change. The perception that the country is disintegrating should change because it is not. We have problems, but things are not yet catastrophic. If we continue at this rate and with that image, they will indeed become disastrous. Therefore, business is struggling to improve the image of the country abroad. What is shown in major media is not the real life in Greece. After improving the face of the country, we should boost tourism. This sector can immediately bring money to the country. We from the tourism business are not saying that heavy industry should not be developed or that no investments should be made in the production of fuels. These projects should be developed in parallel but let us not forget that the results will come in the long term, whereas tourism can immediately contribute to the recovery of GDP.

This conclusion is important for each party that will be in power today or tomorrow. We should not be divided into Bolsheviks and capitalists. It is important that people survive. The country needs funds to save social security funds. Causal relationships are very important here. If Greece has a bad image as a country, travel agencies have to promote a bad product. As you can see, travel agencies are like small embassies in the country. We are currently trying to sell a product (Greece) with a bad image, which may not correspond to reality, but we cannot convince the rest of the world and we rely solely on its past and natural beauty. It does not help our work; to the contrary it creates obstacles for us. Consequently, fewer tourists will visit Greece, which will inevitably lead to redundancies and bankruptcies. This, in turn, will reduce the revenue of social insurance funds and the end result will be a deepening crisis and unemployment.

What do you think the new government should immediately do to stop the negative trend in tourism?

The first thing is to adjust ​​VAT. Currently, different tourist services have three different VAT rates. It should be decreased to the lowest tax rate of 6.5%, mainly to improve the competitiveness of the Greek tourist product. Such an action may not result in a lower price for the end customer but it will greatly help to improve the climate of local tourism and will improve the offers to external travel agencies who will pay less for the services they receive.

Foreign travel agencies know that Greece itself is sold as a tourist destination. We are an attractive market and there is constant interest in us. When the prices of the packages become more attractive, travel agencies will again give priority to Greece in the packages they offer. This is a matter of advertising too.

If we were to consider the issue in a more general framework, I would say that Greece finally has to establish a stable and efficient tax system. I do not know what it would be and I would not oppose it even if the state deducted 30% -35% from the total income – it is enough to make sure that the tax system is stable and unchanging, so that I can make my long-term action plan.

How has the profile of tourists visiting Greece in the last two years changed?

Tourists visiting Greece are quite scared and some of them come to the country with large reserves, mainly because of the pictures circulated by major television channels. I understand that the media want to sell their product and attract the viewers’ attention, but they focus on riots, violence and sex. This is momentary news; these are not permanent things. Nobody wants to present the beaches and nature. What is interesting is how a newly born politician hits his female colleague. They deal with homeless people and prostitution. There were homeless in Greece a few years ago too, but nobody paid attention. Their number may have really increased, but it is because many of them have preferred it themselves, others have lost their mind and have taken this path.

You said that in your opinion major media are to blame for the distorted notion the world has of Greece but the incidents we are talking about are broadcast by the Greek media first and then, by major foreign television channels and news agencies.

Yes, that is right but these pictures are distorted and they do not reflect the truth. This is what I am saying.

Let us go back to the change in the profile of tourists. Have you noticed a change in the type or origin of the tourists visiting Greece?

There has been some decline in the number of tourists from the United Kingdom in recent years. This year, there is a drop in the number of tourists from Germany. For us, these are traditional markets. However, there is an increase in the number of tourists from Russia not because they have suddenly started to like us but because the procedures for issuing travel documents to Greece have been simplified. There is a great love for Greece from Latin America, but the problem is expensive transport. I think it is time to pay more attention not only to traditional markets but also to new and more distant countries. Tourists will come from them, who may not be many in number but will be of higher quality and will spend much more.

What do you think has brought Greece to the current situation?

The reason is the ease of life in recent years. Our generation did not learn a lesson from the lives of our grandparents, who knew to live with less. They knew poverty and experienced one of the most unpleasant events in the history of a nation - civil war. The old generation was struggling to achieve democratic rights and our generation has been immersed in a fictional prosperity. It was based on credits, public as well as private ones. Those governing for long periods of time were telling stories about children, giving false hopes and promises only to be re-elected and credits have been accumulating. The moment of truth has come. We have no room for more manoeuvres. The future of our children is at a crossroads and it depends on us to take our destiny into our own hands. Let us remember Greece as it once was. I think we will recover faster than some suggest, if we learn a lesson from what has happened to us. We cannot always seek to blame others without seeking the fault in ourselves. The time when you could decide that someone else will do the job for you is over.

Let us finish positively. What would you tell a   man who has never visited Greece?

The fairy land, you may have seen in advertisements and photos, is real. This is Greece itself. People are hospitable and a warm reception is in the nature of every Greek. The Greeks have problems now, but they do not affect tourists. The negative information about Greece presented recently in the media is not objective. Come and see for yourself.