Na eerdere daling nu weer op peil van vorig jaar.
Yiorgos Pouseos van het ministrie van tourisme verwacht een vemeerdering van aantal aankomsten !!
Kreta moet inzetten op cultuur, natuur en Kretens eten.
Like the weather, predicting this season's tourism climate has become a major topic in kafenia and cafés across our townships, the cause of much knuckle banging and raised voices.
Of course, it all relates back to the country's dire financial situation, and, depending on who you listen to, we can be in for a season of storms or sunshine.
Euro MP Spyros Danellis, former Mayor of Hersonissos, a member of the EU's tourism committee, said that tourism is in a "deep crisis," but not only because of the current economical problems.
"As I have often said in the past, the deep crisis that Greek tourism is experiencing is due to structural problems of the tourist model of growth and development we have followed," he stated. "The current recession has worsened this negative situation, while I believe that the provocative and malicious publications of some European press influence very little our probable visitors. All this, gives the possibility to big tour operators to have a field day and to further blackmail for a bigger reduction of prices." He added that the solution is to improve and merchandise all our comparative advantages and to properly present and market an entire range of thematic/alternative tourism.
"For Crete, the top of the list can be headed by: culture, nature and the Cretan diet/nutrition," he said.
Malia Mayor Kostas Lagoudakis, who personally attended the Berlin Tourism Exhibition to oversee his township's efforts, said: The sun of the new tourist period rises with pale rays, mainly because of structural problems and due to the economic crisis that has begun creeping into the real economy, and which will intensify in the next months."
While at the exhibition, Mr. Lagoudakis managed to corner Mrs. Angela Gerekou, vice minister of tourism,and press her on the subject of one of the township's nemesis, the illegal rentals of quads, which he insisted is the obligation of her ministry to legislate, at last, a decision pending from 2005.
"Added to this is the matter of confronting and managing the young visitors in July and August, as they are told that Malia is a place of promiscuity, which we will be addressing with representatives of the special police unit ELAS, local institutions and the British Consul Mrs. Claire Fragaki."
In spite of the problems, Mr. Lagoudakis said that Cretan tourism will be about the same as last year, and then added, optimistically: "There is a faint hope that Russian visitors will increase."
The Hersonissos Municipality also participated at the Berlin exhibition, in a move to reinforce the local market from the unfavourable repercussions of the world economic crisis.
"Hersonissos was invited to the Cretan booth by the Iraklion prefecture and we managed to have a dynamic presence thanks to our exceptional volunteers that represented us," said Mayor Yiorgos Danelakis. "We can pull through these lean times only by the local institutions, the businessmen and local government, working together to achieve desired results."
Gouves Mayor Yiorgos Nikolakakis said he is tired of hearing from local businessmen who say Turkey will be full and we will be empty.
"I believe that we must see tourism more rationally and not look at it like we have been doing lately," he commented. There should be equivalence between prices and quality, and businessmen must begin to unite and find alternative networks to attract customers. They cannot leave the entire tourism business to the tour operators. If we don't understand this we will not go any further."
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the Tourism Ministry, Yiorgos Pouseos, speaking at the recently held Iraklion conference for "Prospects of Cretan Tourism in 2010," said he expects "an increase in arrivals although it's still unknown whether it will be accompanied with an increase of income."
However, he ended on a negative note by stating the advertising expenses to promote Greece abroad have been limited this year due to the debts incurred by the Greek Tourist Organization.
Regarding the same subject, Mrs. Gerekou, in an obvious effort to economize in face of the cash-strapped GNTO, announced that the ad campaign is using the existing creative material of last year with simply inserting the word "kalimera."
When one local tourism professional heard of this strategy, he suggested that they should have used kalinykta: "It would better describe this year's tourist season!"
Bron: Crete Gazette
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