The Guardian — Greek presidents are not given to speaking off the cuff. So when Prokopis Pavlopoulos went off script last week to entreat CNN’s Christiane Amanpour to visit his country next summer, it was noticeable.
“This is a hospitable country,” he said in a rare interview with a foreign TV channel. “Hopefully you can come back next summer. After all, the Greek people are always appreciative of those who care about them.”
Like Greek politicians across the board, Pavlopoulos did not miss the chance to advertise his homeland abroad. It is easy to see why. Tourism has become the mainstay of an economy not only locked in a perpetual fiscal vice – the price of being bailed out to the tune of more than €300bn – but languishing in the longest running recession since the second world war.
Figures released by Greece’s tourism confederation, SETE, reveal the extent to which the sector is protecting Europe’s weakest economy. With a 6.5% increase in tourist arrivals at major airports between January and August – the equivalent of about 750,000 holidaymakers – the industry accounted for eight out of 10 new jobs.
Extrapolating ministry of labour data, the confederation said 210,226 of the 253,945 positions created in that time were either in tourist accommodation or restaurants. Unemployment, still the worst in the 28-nation bloc, fell to 23.1% between April and June, down from an all-time high of 28% in 2014.
“Despite everything that has happened in the last year, despite Greece debating and arguing with its [bailout] lenders, despite Brexit, and global financial instability in the market, tourism still managed to outperform every other sector,” the tourism chief, Andreas Andreadis, said in an interview.
British holidaymakers, after Germans, lead the league tables in arrivals to Greece with an estimated 2.4 million visiting in 2015. “But what has been really surprising is Brexit,” added Andreadis. “In terms of effect it has not been at all significant and already the picture is looking very positive for next year with early bookings doing better than expected.”
Tourism takings – and arrivals – broke all records last year. More than 23.5 million tourists visited, generating €14.2bn (£12bn) of revenues – or 24% of gross domestic product – according to the Bank of Greece.
SETE forecasts that up to 25 million – or 27.5 million when cruise ship passengers are included – will come this year, which is more than twice the Greek population.
