Association of Hellenic Tourism Enterprises

The discounts and special packages that Greek tourism enterprises offered foreign markets to make the most of last-minute bookings, combined with big drops experienced by rival destinations, such as Turkey, led to an increase in air arrivals for Greece in the first nine months of the year, according to the Association of Hellenic Tourism Enterprises (SETE).

The momentum that Athens tourism has attained in the last three years has mobilized private capital and seen the opening of new five-star hotels in the capital's center.

Following the year-on-year drop in travel receipts over the first seven months of 2016 and the expected decline of 25 percent in hotel enterprises' net results, there are ominous signs for the industry next year too, according to Greek hoteliers.

Despite the recovery of the number of visitors to Greece from the Russian tourism market, this year's figures remain a far cry from the all-time records of 2013, with 1.35 million arrivals and revenues of 1.34 billion euros.

Greece will likely miss its target of increasing annual revenues from tourism this year, while rival destinations such as Spain are setting new records, giving their economies a major boost.

Despite the excessive taxes imposed on the sector, tourism has been the one industry propped up the Greek economy this year, as other sectors showed signs of fatigue and decline, data presented on Wednesday by the Association of Hellenic Tourism Enterprises (SETE) showed.

More than 3 billion euros are expected to flow into the Greek economy over the September-October period thanks to an upturn in tourism numbers at the country's popular destinations. The rise in last-minute bookings observed since July is generating expectations for an improvement in the course of tourism revenues after a negative first half of the year compared with 2015.

Greece's failure in dealing with the challenge of the migrant and refugee crisis constitutes the biggest threat to the country's tourism, as the government appears unable to address and plan for the needs of the sector that brings in the biggest portion of incoming foreign currency.

The perception of Greece as a tourism destination is deteriorating in the British, German and American markets as a result of the refugee and migration crisis, an Internet survey has found.

The survey was conducted by independent British firm Censuwide for the Association of Hellenic Tourism Enterprises (SETE).

By Stathis Kousounis

The prolonged uncertainty regarding the Greek economy, which is not seen disappearing before Athens reaches an agreement with the country?s creditors, is taking its toll on the short-term prospects of Greek tourism, according to the sector?s professionals.