Greece's market return mirrors return of tourists

By Eleni Chrepa

Greece's successful return to bond markets is the most recent in a series of "positive messages" for the economy that included the country posting a record year for tourism and forecasting an even stronger 2014, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said.

"We have left the big difficulties behind us," Kefalogianni said in an interview on Monday. "The trend is now turning and we’ll see the Greek economy start recovering this year."

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has called the tourist industry, which accounts for about one sixth of gross domestic product, "the first locomotive that started and began to pull our economy out of a painful six-year recession."

Greece successfully tapped debt markets last week for the first time in four years, selling 3 billion euros ($4 billion) in five-year bonds.

Greece saw a record 18 million visitors last year, as travelers from Germany and the UK, who shrugged off recent images of a strife-torn country, were joined by visitors from growth markets like China and Brazil. Industry projections show this year to be ahead of last year’s pace, the minister said.

"The messages from all our markets are extremely positive, giving us the confidence that 2014 will be a new record year," Kefalogianni said. Her ministry's forecasts match estimates by the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises.

Recovering Markets

Traditional source markets for Greek tourism, which had declined sharply in recent years, have begun recovering, Kefalogianni said, with pre-booking figures from the country’s industry association indicating Greece can expect more tourists from the UK, Germany and France this year. Germans are the most frequent visitors to the country, followed by the UK, the...