Leading Greek businesspeople and representatives of tourism entities express cautious optimism to Kathimerini about this year’s prospects.

However, they foresee major challenges and risks due to the international situation, while emphasizing that problems such as the absence of a comprehensive state plan for the sector, as well as major infrastructure deficiencies, continue to remain unresolved and undermine long-term prospects.

For the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), core priorities are “the strengthening of investments in an environment of legal security, with key prerequisites being a clear spatial plan, the upgrading of infrastructure, the rationalization of the taxation of tourism businesses and the strengthening of human resources, in a framework of public-private sector cooperation, are central priorities,” said its president, Yiannis Paraschis.

At the same time, the trade war that has erupted, despite the temporary signs of recession in recent days, has significantly affected investment and consumer confidence worldwide, with the threatened recession in key countries expected to affect travel to Greece, noted Yiannis Retsos, president of Foundation for Economic & Industrial Research (IOBE), CEO of Electra Hotels and former SETE chief.

Concerns are also being expressed about the belief that tourism will continue to grow and generate investments, regardless of domestic and foreign problems.

However, for another former president of SETE, Andreas Andreadis, who is co-CEO of the SANI/IKOS group, “even worse than such complacency is the new, rapidly spreading perception that not only does tourism not need a strategic plan and rational implementation, but that it has also become too overgrown, creating more problems than benefits.”

Meanwhile, Greek tourism operates in an environment of intense international competition, which is why the “realignment of value and quality,” as Mitsis Group CEO Stavros Mitsis puts it, is considered crucial, “especially in an environment of increasing competition and changing expectations from travelers.”