Download Greek tourism to gain from troubles in Egypt, Tunisia Greek tourism

Είδος: Εφημερίδα / Κύρια / English Press / Εβδομαδιαία
Ημερομηνία: Παρασκευή, 11-02-2011
Σελίδα: 7
Μέγεθος: 441 cm ²
Μέση κυκλοφορία: 4040
Επικοινωνία εντύπου: 210 3333700
Greek
tourism
togain
from
troubles
inEgypt,
Tunisia
LOCAL tourism is benefiting from the crisis in Egypt and Tunisia,
which has prompted tourists to flee, as these countries' tourism industry
shared many characteristics with Greece.
European tour operators hope to offset the impact on secondquarter
earnings from ongoing unrest in Egypt and Tunisia by offering
more holidays to alternative destinations such as Greece and Spain.
British travel group Thomas Cook said it expected the turmoil
in northern Africa to wipe around 20 million pounds (23.5 million
euros) off second-quarter profit with holidaymakers being advised
to stay away from the region.
But Europe's second-biggest tour operator, which has been
taking around a million holidaymakers to Egypt each year, hopes
to offset the losses by offering more holidays to alternative
destinations such as Greece and Spain.
In the last four weeks, Thomas Cook said British bookings to
Greece were up 20 percent with bookingsto the Balearic Islands rising
30 percent. "The two destinations which are benefiting the most from
these troubles are Spain and Greece. The main beneficiary is Spain,
in particular the Canary and Balearic Islands. The second destination
is Greece, which is seeing a big comeback," a spokesman said.
Comeback
Greece could see double-digit growthin visitor arrivals this year
but only a slight increase in revenue as hoteliers are having to slash
rates to lure visitors, a senior tourism industry official told Reuters.
The Greek economy counts on tourism to its sun-drenched
islands and ancient sites for nearly a fifth of its GDP and one in five
jobs. That makes it crucial to efforts to pull the debt-choked country
back to growth by the end of the year.
Tourism revenues dropped about 20 percent in the past two
years after anti-austerity strikes and violent protests turned tourists
away and forced big last-minute discounts, dragging down a sector
already hit by the global crisis.
This year, revenues should pick up slightly as visitors are
returning after the industry slashed prices early to build up a cushion
of advance bookings and benefit from a recovery in Europe, said
Andreas Andreadis, vice-president of the Greek Tourism
Enterprises Association (SETE).
"Things look positive. The last two weeks were very good for
early bookings, at pre-crisis levels," he said in an interview. "With
this trend we see an increase in arrivals," said Andreadis, who is
also head of the Greek hoteliers' federation. "It will be significant,
in the higher single digits or lower double digits."
Revenues, however, will increase much less in the wake of
slashed prices and special offers. "There will be a slight increase as
well in terms of revenues, but nowhere close to the numbers in
arrivals," he said. Bookings from Britain - which is one of Greece's
biggest markets and the earliest to book - were up 7-9 percent from
last year, with positive signs from growing markets including Russia,
France and Italy, he said.
(AthensNews, Reuters)
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