Chinanews.com, August 4th. According to Euronet, citing a report from Greece’s Eurolink News Agency on the 4th, at present, although local airports in Greece have been reopened, hotel operators had hoped to attract foreign tourists through this, but in fact, entry into Greece The number of tourists is much lower than expected.
Data map: Acropolis of Athens, Greece under the epidemic.
According to reports, statistics from the Bank of Greece on the impact of the epidemic show that from January to May, Greece’s tourism revenue decreased by 78.5%, and the number of inbound tourists decreased by 97.7% in May alone. Compared with 2019, the key income from tourism in Greece has decreased by 99.2%.
According to the report, Tasios, chairman of the Greek Hotel Industry Practitioners Association, said that although many countries lifted travel bans, the average occupancy rate of the Greek hotel industry in July was only 25%, and the arrival rate of tourists will continue to remain at the beginning of August. Lower level.
Mazurani, a staff member of the Aqua Vista Hotel in Santorini, said in an interview with the English edition of Sihua News that at this stage, travel is a luxury, and the resumption of flights is only a basic condition for tourists to travel. The important thing is whether tourists have enough money to cover expensive travel expenses.
According to reports, before this, a large part of Greece's tourists came from the United States and Russia each summer, but Greece has not yet allowed tourists from these two countries to enter. In addition, affected by the epidemic, most people are unwilling to travel now. Therefore, the tourism industry believes that Greece may have lost the 2020 tourist season.
Under this circumstance, can local tourists in Greece save the 2020 tourism season by "oneself"?
Lemono Bross, an employee of Olympus Resort Villas and Spa, took a negative view. 10% of the total number of tourists, and a hotel to achieve break-even, at least 40% occupancy rate. He believes that some smaller hotels may not open this year due to low occupancy rates.
In Greece, Rhodes is one of the most popular islands for tourists, but this summer only welcomed a few tourists. Papus, president of the Dodecanese Chamber of Commerce, said that the tourist arrival rate and occupancy rate of Rhode Island have dropped significantly this year, and 70% of hotels are still closed, including some large hotels.
He said it is estimated that since the start of the tourist season in Greece, millions of tourists have been lost. But he still hopes that the situation will improve in August and September.
The report pointed out that some Greek hotel operators are optimistic about the business situation from August 7 to August 20, because during this time, most Greeks will take annual vacations and go to the island for vacation.
In addition, due to the relatively hot weather in Greece in July and August, some international tourists will visit in September and October. Officials of the Ministry of Tourism of Greece also expressed the hope that the tourism industry will improve by then. (Xu Yan)