Dozens of tourism investments are under threat due to the lack of zoning plans, while overtaxation is putting the future course of the sector at risk according to data and estimates presented during Thursday’s annual general meeting of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE).
Yiannis Retsos, who has taken over from Andreas Andreadis, SETE’s president for the last six years, stressed that investment plans are threatened by any recourse to the Council of State due to the absence of zoning plans that would include specific land use provisions and secure investors the unhindered progress of their investment.
Andreadis stressed that while tourism enterprises are already being asphyxiated by high taxation, the short-term lease market operates at the expense of organized accommodation without having to pay a single euro in taxes, creating the most unfair competition seen in the last decade.
Speaking at the same event, main opposition New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis outlined the main points of his party’s tourism strategy while accusing the government of “executive weakness and insufficiency.” He pledged to attract investment, ease the tax burden with the abolition of the new levy per night’s stay, create full zoning plans as well as added-value tourism product portfolios such as culture, and to promote Greece as a destination through public-private partnerships.
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RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
