Greek Tourism Confederation

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sought the establishment of a new social contract between entrepreneurs, labour, and the state at a meeting today with Greece's largest business and labour organisations.

The number of people employed in the tourism sector accounted for 10.6 percent of the workforce in the third quarter of 2018, the highest since 2009, according to a study by the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE).

Nearly 1.1 million tourists visited Greece from the US in 2018, against 613,000 a decade earlier, while American tourists have already spent 118.9 percent more at 75.5 million euros in the first quarter of 2019, year-on-year, indicating a surge in interest.

Greek tourism relies heavily on six markets for visitors and revenues, while five of the country's 13 regions accounted for over 80 percent of visits, according to 2018 data collected and processed by the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE).

The number of visitors coming into Greece by road is slipping this year after coming to 8.8 million in 2018. These visitors accounted for 29 percent of the total of 30.3 million (without cruise passengers) who visited the country last year, according to a new study by the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE) on the prospects of tourism by road this year.

The Greek tourism sector needs to create fresh tourism products to attract new investment and make it fetch returns, Ilias Kikilias, general director of the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE), said on Tuesday.

Hotels on Myconos and Santorini continue to have the highest rates among Mediterranean units of the same rating, according to data from hotel meta-search engine Trivago processed by the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE).

Tourism generates over a quarter of Greece's gross domestic product, according to data presented on Wednesday by the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE). The data highlight the industry's importance to the national economy and employment, as well as tourism's quasi-monopolistic status in the country's growth.

The large inflow of tourists from the Balkans and Eastern Europe in the last 15 years and the absence of an integrated strategic plan to attract higher-income visitors have led to a 30 percent decline in the per capita spending of holidaymakers in Greece over the last few years, according to figures compiled by the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE).

Germany remained the main market for Greek tourism bookings in March, according to Trivago data processed by the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE). However, Italy has pipped the UK to second spot, likely due to the Brexit uncertainty.