By Michalis Psilos

 

 

"The figures speak of a good tourist year in terms of arrivals and revenues… returning to the pre-pandemic levels," Minister of Tourism, Olga Kefalogianni, said in an interview with "Naftemporiki" and Michalis Psilos.

 

However, she said that "it is premature at this moment to make an overall assessment."

 

Asked about the performance of tourism in July and August, she replied:

 

"As you know, I avoid making any predictions, especially now that we are at the end of August, with the season still going on. What I can tell you is that based on the figures so far it is a good year in arrivals and revenue amid rising employment in local communities, higher revenues and better prospects. It is a year that tourism returns to the pre-pandemic levels. However, we, at the Ministry, do not only celebrate the good performance, but we are scrambling to ensure the next successes of Greek tourism, to solve the problems, to plan its future.

 

Rhodes is back to normal

 

Regarding the fire-stricken areas, she said that it has been and still is an extremely difficult period, so it is premature to make an overall assessment. The climate crisis really concerns us, as the entire Mediterranean is affected. It is now part of our planning, it is a large part of the strategy for sustainable tourism. In the case of Rhodes, we have absorbed the short-term consequences with our immediate actions. The island is now back to normal.

 

Kefalogianni underlined that the political pursuit of the Tourism Ministry and the government is to render Greek tourism more humane, more modern, more competitive and more rewarding.

 

"To achieve the above goals we need a series of reform policies that include a unified national strategy for Greek tourism together with the private sector, development of modern infrastructure, qualified human resources, transition to digital transformation," she explained and added: "This is an integrated network of political initiatives aimed at sustainability and sustainability."

 

In reply to a question about hyper-tourism and high prices, she said. "Hyper-tourism is a broader issue that needs a methodical approach. Such phenomena in our country are fortunately not widespread, you meet them on specific dates in specific places. On the matter of high prices, you know very well that Europe is facing a big issue of soaring prices and inflation. But I would urge the professionals not to take advantage of this situation to increase their prices further or – even worse – find an opportunity for excessive profits. Their gains will be temporary and the damage to our reputation significant."