Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers: The Greek hotel is the country’s export engine

A clear message, “Don’t count without the hotelier,” was sent to all directions by the Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers (POX) during the open session of its annual general assembly held on Friday at a central hotel in Athens, underlining that hotels are the country’s export engine.

Opening the general assembly, the president of POX, Mr. Yiannis Hatzis, highlighted the Federation’s contribution to the assertion of competitiveness and protection of the hotel industry in Greece, as well as to the development of a modern and globally attractive tourism product, with high added value for the entire Greek economy and society.

In this context, the Federation...

-It was the first to point out that the reference to overtourism is misleading. The entire discussion concerns the urgent need to upgrade the country's infrastructure, as the declining performance of certain infrastructures causes overcrowding phenomena that have nothing to do with the phenomenon of overtourism faced by other countries.

-It reacted immediately to limit the increase in the temporary resident fee from the initial forecast of 2% to 0.75%, saving the sector costs of over 130 million euros.

-It has collected over 1,000 illegal accommodations from online platforms and is pushing for the implementation of controls and stricter sanctions

- In parallel with the study already underway by PwC on the tax burden on hotels, it is launching, in collaboration with INSETE, a survey specifically for the weakest economic hotels in mainland Greece and on the small islands in order to map their specificities and document the need to support their sustainability.

-The new National Sectoral Collective Labor Agreement (EKSSE) established a fairer mechanism for differentiating salaries according to the financial capabilities of hotel businesses. This innovative regulation of the CBA, combined with the provision for the creation of an Occupational Insurance Fund, adapts the CBA to the requirements of modern reality, ensuring the protection of employees' rights, while at the same time supporting the sustainability of businesses. “Through this balance, the new SCE approaches all stakeholders with social responsibility,” underlined Mr. Hatzis.

-In the field of training its members, it organized 5 specialized online workshops in collaboration with leading companies, such as Deloitte and EPSILON, while two more are planned in the coming days (one in collaboration with the Ministry of Family with a focus on socially sensitive issues and another with Deloitte, with a focus on the transfer of know-how for the financing of small hotel units).

-It established the institution of Regional Conferences, which has already traveled to 5 regions of the country, with the sixth taking place this May in the Cyclades, while by the end of the term of the Board of Directors, POX will cover all the Regions of the country.

-Organized three Presidents' Councils, the last of which was the first Presidents' Council in the history of the Federation to be held at a round table, where all the presidents of the country's Associations had the opportunity to express their views, and with participation reaching record levels.

-Organized the first Next Gen Roundtable, a new institution with the participation of young people up to 30 years of age.

"Hoteliers are more united than ever, independent, without censorship and constraints. Our goal remains that our historic federation, the home of the Greek hotelier, the union representative of the hotel industry, which is the country's export engine, will continue to operate with all the momentum and seriousness that it deserves", emphasized Mr. Hatzis.

As he said, "We follow a methodical and documented policy, and our goal is to maintain our momentum and competitiveness, to continue to defend the interests of hoteliers (small and large, in popular and less popular destinations) and to contribute to the development of a modern and globally attractive tourism product."

O. Kefalogianni: Aim to become a model of sustainable tourism development in the world

The goal of the Ministry of Tourism is to "promote the country as a model destination for sustainable tourism development at a global level", as stated in her speech the Minister of Tourism, Ms. Olga Kefalogiannis.

The Minister emphasized that 2025 began with particularly positive messages for Greek tourism, with an increase in tourist traffic and revenues, while she also referred to the positive performance of 2024 where there was a significant increase in the "off-season" months, reinforcing the goal of lengthening the tourist season or 12-month tourist traffic in the country.

Highlighting the contribution of tourism to the economy, investments, and local communities, the Minister emphasized that tourism is the most important sector of the Greek economy and contributes 22 billion euros to the country's GDP.

Ms. Kefalogianni referred to the strategy implemented by the ministry through a network of actions and activities to upgrade the quality of tourism services, to strengthen infrastructure with an emphasis on special forms of tourism, to digitize services to travelers, and to upgrade tourism education and training.

Among the latest legislative interventions, she highlighted the facilitation of the licensing of tourism businesses, the promotion of timeshare rentals, and the establishment of specifications for short-term rentals. She referred to the development of special forms of tourism, with an emphasis on mountain, sea, diving tourism, and agrotourism. At the same time, she presented actions such as the strengthening of destination management with the establishment of DMMOs, the upgrading of the Visit Greece platform with digital tools,and  Upskilling and reskilling to support employment.

G. Hadjimarkos: Stop targeting tourism as a galley

The president of the Association of Greek Regions and regional governor of the South Aegean, Mr. Giorgos Hadjimarkos, spoke about targeting the tourism sector, which spreads its benefits to society.

Mr. Hadjimarkos emphasized that thanks to the tourism sector, the South Aegean has achieved first place among European Regions in combating unemployment, is the first Region in Greece in creating new jobs and the only one in our country that has increased its population and has indications of reversing the brain drain.

Despite this positive contribution of tourism, as he said, the sector is being targeted. I cannot imagine that the public debate will continue to poison the souls of young people with perceptions that tourism is a scourge and the destruction of the place, and those who support it are representatives of dark forces with selfish motives, indifferent to the human, natural, and fiscal environment, he said characteristically. There are issues to be managed, overall, but I cannot imagine Greeks hating tourism, he added and called on the institutions to "pass the right message to society" about tourism and its contribution.

For Santorini, Mr. Hadjimarkos pointed out that the data so far shows that "we have a window of hope" and that with everyone's efforts in managing the situation at the end of the season, the results will be good. element of the professionals is the love for their industry.

A. Sbokou: Upward course but with quality conditions

For her part, the Vice President of the Board of Directors of SETE, Ms. Agapi Sbokou, referred to the steady growth trajectory of Greek tourism in recent years, having established itself in the top positions of the global tourism market. As she said, 2024 was a landmark year with the highest performance in the history of Greek tourism in terms of revenue and arrivals. The increase in revenue amounted to 5.4% from 2023 to 21.7 billion euros, while total arrivals are expected to approach, including cruises 40 million.

For 2025, the picture is even better, with very positive messages from the ITB report on pre-bookings and the broader interest in Greece from the main tourism markets, she said. However, continuous growth cannot be the only goal, noted Ms. Sbokou, as the challenges affecting the tourism ecosystem remain numerous, with the new constant being the climate crisis and its effects. The goal, she stressed, is to shape a sustainable, high-quality, and resilient tourism model that will benefit society, the economy, and the environment.

She also highlighted the necessary interventions in Greek tourism, as derived from SETE proposals, including...

infrastructure and the management of tourist flows. Investments must contribute to the improvement of services, while private investments are disproportionate to public ones, primarily for citizens and then for visitors.

• the need for local governments to follow the DMMOs model
• the cost-effectiveness of fees collected from tourism
• the need to complete the consultation on a special spatial plan for tourism that remains pending, and which will provide legal certainty for investments.
• the access of businesses to financial instruments,
• the restrictions on short-term rentals in order to protect housing, and the carrying out of inspections of accommodations that are presented as short-term rentals but operate as tourist accommodations.

In addition, he referred to the problems that arise in the call of third-country nationals, in the implementation of the digital work card in hotels, in the resolution of business issues such as delays in environmental licensing or the simple use of the seashore.

The president of the SETE Institute (INSETE), Mr. Giorgos Vernikos, stressed that as tourism's contribution to GDP increases, so will the pressures and doubts for the sector and underlined SETE's goal of creating broader social and political consensus. Finally, he added that beyond the challenges for tourism, which also include the narrative of overtourism that "distorts reality", the sector must have society on its side.

K. Vetta: The State's obligation to include hotels in financial programs

For the development of sustainable and resilient tourism, the real assistance of the State is needed, with the main concern being the support of professionals, employees and local communities, said in her greeting the MP for the Prefectural Government of Kozani and Head of the Tourism Sector of the SYRIZA PS, Ms. Kalliopi Vetta.

It is the State's obligation, as he emphasized, to include even low-class hotels in a series of financial programs and tools such as modernization, digital transformation, and energy upgrade programs.

He pointed out that the immediate declaration of the recently signed collective agreement for hotel employees as generally mandatory for all hotel businesses before the start of the tourist season must be implemented, and he also called for the government's substantial intervention in regulating short-term rentals, which are spreading to the detriment of legally licensed tourist accommodations and the entire society.

SYRIZA Tourism Sector Head P.S. stressed that in the struggle of Greek businesses for resilience and sustainability, the State must be a helper with a national strategy and direct development actions, with an emphasis on employment and human resources in tourism, which will allow the population to be contained in the region, and the support of economic and social cohesion throughout the country.

m, as he said, the sector is being targeted. I cannot imagine that the public debate will continue to poison the souls of young people with perceptions that tourism is a scourge and the destruction of the place, and that those who support it are representatives of dark forces with selfish motives, indifferent to the human, natural and fiscal environment, he said characteristically. There are issues to be managed, overall, but I cannot imagine that Greeks hate tourism, he added and called on the institutions to “pass the right message to society” about tourism and its contribution.

Regarding Santorini, Mr. Hadjimarkos pointed out that the data so far shows that “we have a window of hope” and that with everyone’s efforts in managing the situation at the end of the season, the results will be good.

K. Spyridaki: Greece needs a shift to quality tourism

This year's assessment of the performance of Greek tourism has a paradox: while arrivals are higher, net profits are lower, stressed in her greetings the Head of Tourism of PASOK, Ms. Katerina Spyridaki. As she mentioned, in 2024 international air arrivals recorded an increase of 8.3% and impressive performances in the Dodecanese (+10.3%) and Crete (+7.3%), but the average per capita expenditure decreased by 5%, while the net profits of hotel businesses fell by 16.3%, with stable operating costs and expenses.

This calls for a paradigm shift, as an increase in numbers is not enough, but in quality tourism, and in this direction targeted investments, modern infrastructure, higher quality services but above all people are needed. There is no tourism without people, he stressed, and he underlined that the shortage of personnel has reached 80,000.

Tourism must return value to the country's residents, be a lever for development and social cohesion,n and contribute to prosperity and the upgrading of infrastructure, he added.

G. Retsos: The demonization of tourism in public opinion is worrying

Greece is a region that could potentially face problems due to global balances, stressed the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Economic & Industrial Research (IOBE) and former president of SETE, Mr. Yiannis Retsos, underlining that, despite the challenges, efforts are on the right track.

However, his biggest concern is society, which, as he said, “is leaning towards easy solutions, illusions and populism, which is reminiscent of the recent past that led us to bankruptcy”. There is an elite, he said, that is constantly inciting tourism and spreading this view to the public.

Mr. Retsos expressed his concern about the change in public opinion towards tourism, stressing, however, that in the Aegean islands, tourism is the main economic activity and that it should not be demonized. “We risk finding ourselves in the position of the accused”, he warned, underlining the need for all stakeholders to formulate a strategy for communication and influencing public opinion “to demonstrate that tourism is based on sustainability, that we serve it and demand from those in power to set the right framework for it”. In this context, as he emphasized, "we would not have had a problem if for 40 years we had had a general spatial plan in Greece, a specific spatial plan for tourism and if there were local urban plans so that each urban development would know which legislative framework it applies".

The president of the Halkidiki Tourism Organization (TOX) and former president of POX, Mr. Grigoris Tasios, urged hoteliers not to hesitate in implementing the digital work card, while the honorary president of POX, Mr. Makis Fokas, also took the floor, who congratulated the representation of the sector through POX and highlighted the love for their sector as the most important element of professionals.

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