The necessity to emphasize the improvement of infrastructure in order for tourism to continue to record a high growth rate and be a key pillar of the Greek economy, stressed to BnB Daily the President of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) Ioannis Paraschis.

"The issue is infrastructure and we have to pay attention to it, because what we are definitely seeing is that the strong momentum of Greek tourism from the summer of 2022 onwards is reaching a phase of retreat. So, we have to do a lot if we want to maintain the positive trend of Greek tourism and not take it for granted that we will be going in double digits."

NEW HIGHS

He estimated that this year will surpass 2023 in arrivals and revenue. He said there had been 11% growth and 5.5% revenue growth by the end of July, with Crete and the South Aegean traditionally leading the way in terms of numbers. There has been a large increase in traffic in Athens. "This shows that we have more arrivals than revenue, a phenomenon that involves a number of changing factors," Paraschis added, referring to the recent study by the National Bank of Greece on how the travel profile and the relationship between peak months and arrivals are changing. "There is a tendency for peak season (July-August) stay days to decrease. We are seeing the average length of stay drop from 7.5 days to 6.7-6.8 days." He also pointed out that the travel budget is being split into more trips and therefore arrivals.

THE FIRST INDICATIONS FOR 2025

"The important thing is to close well in 2024 and then we will look ahead to 2025," he said, noting that we should not forget the issues in the market that affect tourism. "Last year in October, there were several geopolitical events in our neighbourhood. There was a strong concern about tourism in the region, which fortunately did not affect our fair country. 2024 is a good year, while for 2025 the first indications and the prospects are positive."