Greece's tourism industry recovers in full swing

In the central square of Thessaloniki, Greece, fireworks illuminate the sky above the city, and music performances attract many live audiences... From the solemn and solemn Acropolis to the beautiful Santorini, in the past 2023 New Year During the holiday, many well-known tourist attractions in Greece hold colorful celebrations, attracting a large number of domestic and foreign tourists.

Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis said recently that despite the impact of high inflation and other unfavorable factors, the Greek tourism industry has still achieved a full recovery. He predicts that Greek tourism revenue will reach more than 18 billion euros in 2022, 20% higher than the initial estimate of 15 billion euros and the same as the figure in 2019 before the epidemic. Mitsotakis said that the tourism industry has also led to a substantial increase in investment in related industries, further promoting economic development. In 2022, the Greek economy is projected to grow by 5.6%, with government debt falling by 16% as a percentage of GDP.

As an important pillar industry in Greece, the tourism industry was hit hard during the epidemic. Since 2022, the recovery of the tourism industry has been obvious. The occupancy rate of hotels in popular destinations such as Athens exceeds 90% during the peak season. According to the Central Bank of Greece, in the first 10 months of 2022, the number of foreign tourists entering Greece exceeded 26.4 million, a year-on-year increase of 92.1%.

In order to promote the recovery of the tourism industry, the Greek government has formulated a series of supportive policies. One billion euros will be allocated from the recovery fund allocated by the EU to strengthen tourism infrastructure construction, which is expected to benefit about 80 related industries, and the first batch of funds has already been put in place. In order to ensure the orderly recovery of the domestic aviation industry, the Greek government has issued regulations to link the delays at airports during the peak tourist season with the bonuses of air traffic controllers, incentivizing airports to continuously improve operational efficiency and ensure fast and safe travel for tourists. Greece has also added new cruise destinations and increased the capacity of its home port berthing. In 2022, international cruise ships will call at Greek ports 5,000 times, a record high.

In order to promote domestic tourism, Greece has launched the "Tourism for All" plan to provide subsidies for citizens, and has invested more than 100 million euros so far. In view of the current situation of rising energy prices in Europe, Greece has stepped up its promotion efforts to European countries, actively developed new models such as health tourism and gourmet tourism, and attracted more retired elderly people to winter retirement tourism in warm Greece. The Greek Ministry of Tourism, the Athens Municipal Government and Internet companies have cooperated to display various travel routes online with built-in audio explanations to encourage tourists to explore the city in depth.

Mitsotakis said that the Greek government will comprehensively strengthen infrastructure construction, upgrade highways, airports, ports and other transportation facilities, and at the same time use technical means to manage intelligent traffic, reduce environmental pressure, and balance the short-term needs of tourists and the long-term development of scenic spots. relationship between. Greek Tourism Minister Kilias said that in the future, Greece will focus on developing green and sustainable tourism products, and explore more potential tourism projects to promote the sustainable recovery of the tourism industry.