Number of foreign tourists visiting Greece could reach 24 million in 2021, and direct and indirect revenues could reach 50 €billion, according to a plan presented Thursday by the President of the Association of Greek Tourism Companies (SETE), Andreas Andreadis, at the General Meeting of SETE, according to the ekathimerini.com site.
This year, foreign tourist arrivals will reach a record 17 €million and direct revenues will exceed €11 billion, at a time when there are initiatives to reduce costs of the Athens International Airport, said Andreas Andreadis.
Greek Minister of Tourism, Olga Kefaloyianni said that Parliament will soon adopt regulations aimed at promoting new tourism products such as rest houses for young people, but also the establishment of new jobs of attachés specialized on travel issues at the embassies and consulates in Greece worldwide.
Statistics on Greek tourism sector show a significant improvement this year compared to last year because in the period January to March 2013 the number of foreign visitors to Greece increased by 4.6%, exceeding one million, according to the Central Bank of Greece .
In April, the number of tourists that arrived in Greece by plane decreased by 9.2%, but the number of visitors from Eastern Europe has increased. Since June, the number of foreign visitors will increase significantly, according to the reservations already made.
Analysts believe that Greece has benefited from the turmoil in Egypt, which resulted in lower bookings from European countries to this country.
Contributing around 15 percent to the country’s GDP, with a 20 percent of the total number of jobs, tourism is a key economic sector for Greece. About 17.5 million tourists visit Greece every year. A peek was recorded in 2009 when 19.3 million tourists visited Greece, a majority of tourists are from within European Union. About a third of tourists visit Athens, the capital city. The 2004 Olympic Games held in Athens greatly contributed to boost the tourism in Greece.
Reply