Only 14% of Greek hotels have rooms prices of more than 100 euros in August and only 5% in May, according to a study published on Wednesday by the Institute for Tourism Research and Forecasts (ITEP) that measured the impact of the economic crisis on the sector.
Moreover, 35.5% of hotels give out their rooms at below 40 euros in may, while in August this figure shrinks to 14.5%.
At the same time, in 2014 Greeks spent 1.14 billion euros on vacations in Greece, down from 3.16 billion euros six years earlier,at the start of the recession. For the purposes of the survey, ITEP only counted trips of at least four nights in duration. The number of such trips to Greek destinations declined by 45.2 percent from 2008 to 2014.
The drop in spending on traveling abroad was even greater over the same period: Greeks spent 72.2 percent less in 2014 than in 2008 while traveling outside the country, as their expenditure declined from 1 billion euros in 2008 to just 293 million in 2014. Trips abroad more than halved (down 51.6 percent).
As for 2016, ITEP expects tourism arrivals from abroad to range between 25 and 27 million, possibly topping last year’s record with mixed results across individual destinations though.
As the study revealed, the increase will not be equal across individual destinations in Greece, as there is the “intense problem” of refugees and migrants that have arrived in the country and it is “quite possible” for the islands of the North Aegean to see a decline in tourist numbers this year.
Furthermore, the study notes that from 2015, “a slowdown in the growth of both tourist arrivals and receipts has started to surface. This, combined with the migration/refugee problem is very likely to slow down further development of Greek tourism”.
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