Epirus has not yet achieved the tourism added value it deserves. With this phrasing, the President of the Ioannina Hoteliers Association, Spyros Sourelis, opened his intervention at the 8th regional conference of POX, placing at the center the need for the region to enter a more structured path of tourism maturation. As he noted, the area may be experiencing continuous growth, but it still lags behind in critical infrastructure and strategic planning that would allow it to claim a position among the country’s mature destinations.
As he said, the region accounts for only 2% of the country’s hotel beds, with tourism revenue not keeping pace with the increase in arrivals. It was emphasized that Epirus has clear potential, a high customer satisfaction rate, and an excellent price-to-quality ratio, factors that make it an emerging destination. However, it remains an economically “cheap” destination and has not yet managed to generate the added value that local hospitality businesses deserve.
On the other hand, five regions of the country absorb over 90% of tourism revenue, leaving the remaining eight—including Epirus—with a limited role in the national tourism equation, he explained. The President used the example of a basketball team to simply convey the reality. If the 13 regions were a team, there would be a starting five playing almost exclusively, while the substitutes remain out of action. Epirus, he stressed, must become the sixth player—the player who changes the flow of the game.
However, significant obstacles remain. These include a lack of parking spaces at key tourist points, the absence of reliable transport connecting individual destinations, insufficient visitor support networks, problematic provincial road networks, and overtaxation that particularly affects small hospitality units. All of these contribute to maintaining strong seasonality, which limits the overall developmental potential.
Despite the obstacles, the region has modern hotel units, high-quality local products, and gastronomy that can become a hallmark of the destination. What is required, as the President stated, is coordinated cooperation among all stakeholders, professionalism in destination management, a unified promotion plan, and measurable targets that reflect progress year by year.
In closing, he reminded that at the previous regional conference in Larissa, the critical question had been raised as to whether local communities genuinely desire tourism development. In this new phase, he said, a common line, common understanding, and joint effort are necessary. Tourism development, as he emphasized, benefits all sectors of the economy. And at this moment, the conference sets the tone for the next chapter of Epirus.
