By Natassa Stasinou

 

 

"Wanna feel 20 again? With warm winter temperatures up to 20¡æ, Greece is the place to be" states one of the billboards slated to appear in London, Berlin, Oslo and other capitals around Europe. It features an image of an older couple lounging on a yacht with wine glasses in hand. 

 

This message is part of Greece¡¯s new tourism campaign that hopes to lure senior citizens, from northern European countries, with the so called "thermal tourism". 

The energy crisis, soaring bills and geopolitical uncertainty are a burden for any country. But Greece wants to make the most of it, keeping its doors open 12 months round for tourists that want to avoid cold. 

 

Our country has long being considered as the ultimate summer destination, thanks to its impressive islands, sea and sun. Now it tries to rebrand itself. It wants to be considered as a winter destination too, concentrating on pensioners and digital nomads. 

 

Greece has so far this year enjoyed an unexpectedly buoyant tourist season, with revenues and arrivals expected to reach exceed those of pre-pandemic 2019, a record year when the country attracted some 33.1 million people and more than ¢ã18bn in tourist earnings.

 

According to the latest Bank of Greece data the first seven months of the year non-resident traveler arrivals increased by 191.4% and related receipts by 154.2% compared to the corresponding period in 2021. They represent 87.9% and 97.1% of their respective levels in 2019. ¦¯n July non-resident traveler arrivals increased by 87.3% and related receipts by 62.7% compared to July 2021. It is noted that compared to July 2019, arrivals reached 93.0% and receipts marginally exceeded the corresponding level. August was also very strong, while it is estimated that the performance of the two autumn months (September and October) exceed pre-pandemic levels. 

 

Tourism Minister, Vassilis Kikilias, has emphasized that the impressive course of this year's tourist season is the result of strategic agreements, such as those made with American airlines for 63 direct flights/week from the USA. 

 

 

An extremely ambitious goal for the development of Greek tourism until 2030 is set by the national strategic plan prepared by the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE).

 

The implementation of strategies and action plans for 36 selected indicative destinations in the country is estimated to lead to an increase in visits by 27.2 %, from 39.3 million in 2019 to 50.0 million in 2030, in an increase in overnight stays by 31.9%, from 232.5 million in 2019 to 306.7 million and in an increase in revenue by 52 .4%, from 17.7 billion euros to 26.9 billion euros in 2030.

 

However, in order to achieve these goals, three key conditions should be taken into account. These are: 

 

-- the recovery of Greek tourism to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019 Covid-19 in 2023

 

-- the absence of any exogenous crisis (pandemic, major natural disaster , terrorist attack, etc.) that may negatively affect Greek tourism in the period 2023-2030

 

-- the effective implementation of the strategies and action plans that have been developed.

 

For the implementation-achievement of the objectives of the strategy and the action plans, it is estimated that the construction of approximately 41.5 thousand additional rooms will be required in all Regions (beyond the North Aegean, the Peloponnese and Central Greece, where it is estimated that no additional rooms will be required additional accommodation to meet quantitative targets).

 

It is noted that based on the goals that have been set and the future projected needs, the total construction cost of the rooms is expected to rise to 4.8 billion euros.