Basic HTML Version
In 2011, despite a GDP drop of 6.8%
1
, both gross
and net revenues from tourist services resumed
their growth (+9.5% and +10.6% year-on-year
respectively), confirming that tourist activity is
starting to overcome the crisis.
It should be noted that net inflows from travel
services accounted (2011) for 56.3% of net serv-
ice revenues, and covered 30.3% of Greece's
trade deficit.
The year 2012 will be another tough year for the
Greek economy, whose tourism will be tested
anew, since domestic demand is expected to
decrease again, owing to the incessant deteriora-
tion of the living standards of a large part of the
society, while there has also been a lag in book-
ings from major overseas markets, owing to the
F
or the time being, tourism is the most reli-
able sector that can dynamically support
the country’ s efforts to exit the crisis, deci-
sively helping to revive Greece's production
capacity, which, owing to the decline in domestic
demand and the erosion of Greek competitive-
ness, has remained idle for many years.
In order, though, for tourism to continue being
instrumental to the effort to reinvigorate the
national economy, as well as the main driver of
the effort to renew our structures and mindsets
with the aim of enabling a new type of outward-
looking and sustainable growth, we must reorient
our tourist policy towards improving the interna-
tional competitiveness of our tourist product and
enhancing the dynamics of our tourist revenues.
Trade with Greece
110
Greece’s tourist
industry:
at the crossroads
By Ilias Iliopoulos
In the past few years, Greece has been facing a deep
economic crisis, as a result of its high twin deficits (fis-
cal and trade deficit), as GDP growth has turned nega-
tive since 2008, unemployment is high, the economy is
in the investment doldrums, and there is a widespread
lack of confidence in the part of foreign financiers.
1
Provisional Data