Arrivals and tourist revenues are expected to further improve this year for Greece, as long as its economic adjustment program is approved by the end of April and refugee flows are managed efficiently, according to Andreas Andreakis, president of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) President. He said that a target of 25 million arrivals and 15 billion euro in revenue for 2016 has been set compared to 23.5 million visitors and 14.2 billion euros in 2015.
“This year’s tourist season will be a catalyst for further development of Greek tourism and consecutively its contribution to the Greek economy and employment,” he said. “Specific destinations affected by the refugee flows, will show a significant drop in their arrivals.” But he warned that a precondition for all this was the Greek State implement the decisions adopted at European level, in terms of efficient management of refugee flows as well as ensure smooth daily functioning of local communities and tourism destinations. This was of particular importance on the islands of the Eastern Aegean born the brunt of the refugee flows. “If the above issues are not addressed promptly and effectively, there is a serious possibility for the image of Greece to incur substantial damage and for heavy losses to be suffered in the fundamentals of Greek tourism.”
