International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No.

1, 2012 (January), e-ISSN 2247 7225

www.ijept.org

Current and Future Trends in Tourism and Hospitality. The Case of Greece
by
Soultana (Tania) Kapiki
Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki
[email protected]
Abstract. This paper identifies some of the current and future trends affecting the tourism and hospitality industry, including
globalisation, guests safety and security, the importance of offering outstanding services, the new technologies that enhance
competitiveness, the population ageing that impacts directly on tourist demand and the correlation between price and value.
Reference is also made to the trends in the development of tourism lodgings. Furthermore, the paper attempts to analyse the
Greek tourism performance indicators for the last 10 years and suggest ways out of the recession for the tourism
entrepreneurs. The suggestions to the hoteliers include careful analysis of the current and future trends and application of the
proper adaptations, investing in exceptional services and sustainability of their lodging, as well as utilizing the new
technologies and the social networks. Moreover, the hotel owners should consider the retirees as their potential guests and,
finally, they must seek ways to retain effective, diverse and competent staff.
Key words: employment, Greece, services, tourism and hospitality, trends.

JEL classification: J210, L800, L830

The hospitality industry includes the tourism

lodgings, the catering companies, as well as the
food and beverage departments operating within
the lodgings. Tourism lodgings stand out among
other travel and tourism companies because
they
offer
their
guests
overnight
accommodation, food and drinks, recreational
activities and more.
The characteristics of the hospitality industry
are:
It is a truly unique and fun workplace and
diverse in the scope of responsibilities that one
can attain.
It is an industry with many career options and
a source for a respectful income.
Its outstanding dimension is the orientation
towards guest satisfaction at ultimate level.
It offers intangible and perishable products (if
for example 25 rooms are not sold on a
specific night, their revenues will be lost for
ever).
The hospitality businesses make continuous
efforts for maintaining a positive image along
with great guest service. It appears that quality
service is the basis to industry success. Thus,
those organizations that focus on quality
become the leaders for on-going guest
satisfaction, creating loyalty and influencing

1 Introduction
Hospitality means providing service to others,
as well as demonstrating consistent excellence
and quality. It should also mean profitably
providing value at any price level, while
demonstrating your own unique points of
distinction. Most of all, hospitality should be a
place, where people can still be exceptional
individuals and they can extend their own
personality and style (Hogan, 2008).
The hospitality industry is part of a huge group
of companies known as travel and tourism
industry, which provides the necessary or
desirable goods and services to travellers. The
hospitality and tourism industries are the largest
and fastest-growing industries in the world
(Walker, 2010).
The travel and tourism industry is composed of
five parts: a) the tourism lodgings (hotels,
motels, camps, cruise ships), b) the
transportation services (ships, airplanes, trains),
c) food and beverage operations (restaurants,
bars, taverns, catering), d) retail stores (gifts,
souvenir, arts/crafts shops) and e) the activities
(recreation,
educational
trips,
business,
festivals, sport events), (Kasavana and Brooks,
2007).

International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012 (January), e-ISSN 2247 7225
www.ijept.org

future behavioural intentions (Jonsson and

Devonish, 2009).
The new philosophy in hospitality is that
managers are counselling their associates, give
them resources and help them to think for
themselves. Do whatever it takes is critical
for success.
For success in service the hospitality operations,
among others, should focus on the guest,
emphasize high-touch instead of just high-tech
and encourage changes, as well as innovations
(Walker, 2010).

interactions with tourists of different cultures,

religions, races, colours, ages, genders and sexual
orientations. It is for this reason that businesses
plying their trade in this industry must endeavour to
train their personnel to appreciate and accommodate
people from diverse backgrounds around the world.
As such, diversity not only facilitates easy
understanding of different cultural, social and
economic perspectives but enhances the delivery of
satisfactory
services
as
well,
through
communication and observation (Merchant, 2011).
The table 1 shows the employment over the years
2000-2010 in the global travel and tourism industry.

2 Current trends in hospitality and tourism

Table 1. Travel and tourism employment 2000-2010

Year

Globalization. Nowadays, people more than

ever travel freely around the world. The
international tourist arrivals from 674 million in
2000, reached the 797 in 2005 (increased by
18.25%) and the 940 million in 2010 (increase
39.46% in relation to 2000 and increase 17.94 in
relation to 2005). Respectively, the international
tourism receipts (global tourism expenditure) from
475 billion US dollars in 2000, reached the 679
billion in 2005 (increased by 42.94%) and the 918
billion in 2010 (increased by 93.26% in relation to
2000).
Safety and security. The industrys concern
with security has increased greatly due to several
terrorist attacks worldwide, as well as because of
tourists kidnappings, robberies and assaults.
Security of all types of hospitality and tourism
operations is critical and disaster plans should be
made for each kind of threat. Personal safety of
guests must be the first priority (Walker, 2010).
Increased security measures exist in all the
international airports and most airline companies
have upgraded their security measures by investing
millions of dollars. Moreover, they make plans in
order to exceed the requirements of the airline
industry through technology advancements (Hall et
al, 2003).
A propertys security program should include
certain actions and procedures to prevent or
discourage incidents (Ellis and Stipanuk, 1999).
Diversity. The tourism and hospitality industry is
among the most diverse of all industries in terms of
employee population and groups of guests.
Hospitality and tourism present a unique opportunity
to understand new cultural experiences for both
employees and the tourists. It is important for the
personnel to understand and appreciate different
cultures in order to enhance the nature of their

2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

Travel &
Tourism
Direct Industry
Employment
(000)
344,3
338,6
338,6
329,4
329,1
357,6
367,5
366,2
351,3
318,0
322,0

Travel & Tourism

Economy
Employment
(Direct + Indirect)
(000)
777,6
785,4
783,7
769,2
783,4
837,7
866,6
867,6
817,1
741,5
746,2

Source: Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

The above statistics show that in 2010 almost 7.5

million people were employed in the travel and
tourism industry and 3.22 million were linked
directly with the industry. Both Europe and the
U.S.A. receive annually large numbers of
international hospitality employees, the former
mainly from the Eastern Neighbouring Countries
and the latter mostly from Latin America. These
data confirm just how diverse the workforce
composition in the industry has become.

Diversity in the hospitality and tourism industry

is enhanced through visions that promote equal
employment opportunities to cater for the
different nationalities in the market. The
industry gets to appreciate the world's sociocultural and economic differences through the
recruitment of people of diverse backgrounds.
As such, businesses in this industry need to
establish organizational policies that not only

International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012 (January), e-ISSN 2247 7225
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discourage discrimination but also encourage

intercultural activities such as cultural
educational programs and forums. Businesses
also should employ organizational structure that
comprise of people from different regions and
races and spread key appointments to qualified
staff from across the board (Merchant, 2011).
Service. As global competition and market
consumption change the expanding service
sector, quality plays an increasingly essential
role in both attracting and retaining service
customers (Helms and Mayo, 2008).

(WOM) and increments repeated guest rates (Kim et

al., 2001).
The Cornell Hospitality Industry Perspectives
published a report titled Making Customer
Satisfaction Pay: Connecting Survey Data to
Financial Outcomes in the Hotel Industry by
Pingitore et al, (2010). In this report it is
demonstrated that customer satisfaction has clear
linkages to actual financial outcomes. All hoteliers
know that in order to survive they need to attract and
retain guests. However, hoteliers also need to know
specifically what it takes to satisfy their guests. The
study found, for instance, that guests who
experienced outstanding service were likely to spend
more on ancillary items (e.g., restaurant, room
service, day spa, recreation facilities) in subsequent
hotel stays. Getting things right is important. Four
key performance indicators particularly affected
guests evaluations: reservation was accurate, checkin was completed within five minutes, no problems
were experienced during the stay, and no billing
errors occurred. Guests who experienced all four of
these performance indicators were most likely to
grant the hotel a top satisfaction rating.
As seen in figure 1, satisfaction scores are composed
of seven key factors, with the Guest Room (24%)
and Costs & Fees (23%) constituting almost 50% of
the importance weight. The Hotel Facilities factor
(19%) represents almost one-fifth of the importance
weight, while the Check-In and Check-Out, Food &
Beverage, Services, and Reservation factors
constitute the remaining one-third of importance.

Service quality and the degree of satisfaction

derived from service quality are becoming the most
important differentiating factors in almost every
hospitality environment (ONeill and Palmer, 2004).
For the hotel industry, the increasing competition
and expansion of unique services and convenience
has forced hoteliers to continuously search for the
competitive advantage (ONeill, 2005).
Service is at the top of guests expectations, yet few
companies offer exceptional service. World-class
service does not just happen; training is important in
delivering the service that guests have come to
expect (Walker, 2010).
Hotels are increasing their investments to improve
service quality and the perceived value for guests, so
as to achieve better customer satisfaction and
loyalty, thus resulting in better relationships with
each customer (Jones et al., 2009). Relationship
quality has a remarkable positive effect on hotel
guests behaviour: it creates positive word of mouth
Food & Beverage,
10%

Services, 8%

Reservation, 3%

Check-in/out, 13%
Cost, 23%

Guest room, 24%

Facilities, 19%
Source: Cornell Hospitality Industry Perspectives
Figure 1. Factors driving satisfaction scores

International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012 (January), e-ISSN 2247 7225
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The results of the analyses show clear linkages
between measures of customer satisfaction and
actual financial outcomes.
Further, these measures can be used to identify
specific areas for improvement, leading to additional
opportunities for increased revenue.
Technology. Technology is a driving force of
change that presents opportunities for greater
efficiencies and integration for improved guest
services.

o
o
o

Technology has become a tourism business

activity in development of strategic resources
and is considered as a tool to increase
competitiveness. Effective use of information
technology can make significant operational
improvements.
Advanced
software
and
communication tools allow enlarging operational
efficiency, for example, orders may be made
better, faster and cheaper.
In addition, decision-making through decision
support tools, databases and modelling tools
assist the managers job. Thanks to expert
systems, sophisticated expertise can be met by
any manager (Romanovs, 2000).

Increases staff productivity and reduces

response time to satisfy guest requests.
Improves overall guest satisfaction and
service.
Increases efficiency for restaurants (bars,
cafeterias, etc.) and caterers by saving time,
reducing human errors and by providing
higher quality customer service.
Reduces queues at the reception desk and
allows guests to check-in and check-out
closer to where their room is.

Demographic changes. The global population

is gradually increasing and many retirees have the
time and money to travel and utilize hospitality
services.
According to the United Nations, population ageing
is increasingly becoming one of the most salient
social, economic and demographic phenomena of
our times.
By 2030 the EU can expect 14% fewer workers and
7% fewer consumers as 2005. By 2050, the number
of people over 60 in Europe will reach 40% of the
total population or 60% of the working age
population (Willms, 2007).
Adapted from The impact of demographic change
on tourism and conclusions for tourism policy
(Grimm et al, 2009), the key data on demographic
change up to 2020 are included in the table 2.
It is evident that demographic change affects at least
five of the six features examined. The population
volume decreases, migration (internal and
international) increases, and age, gender,
educational and household structures have all
changed in recent years and will continue to change
up to 2020.
Demographic change can affect different aspects of
tourism. It impacts directly on tourist demand
(volume and structure) and the tourism labour
market (number of workers and their qualifications)
and has an indirect effect on jobs within the tourism
industry and tourism services (type and quality of
sector-specific and enhancing infrastructure).
Overall, the expected impact of demographic change
on demand for holidays can be summarized as
follows:

Technology changes the tourism business rules.

More specifically:
Information on all tourist services is available
virtually from all over the world.
Potential client can be any resident of the world.
More territorial boundaries restrict the number of
customers.
Decision making turns into a tourism specialist in
each component.
Changes in customer service technology and
service personalization occur.
Marketing opportunities are expanding.
Technology on wireless communication systems
enabling voice, text and data communication among
employees, managers, departments and guests is
now being adapted by hotels. Comprised of
intelligent system software and lightweight, handsfree or handheld communication devices, these
systems allow hotel staff to deliver the best
customer
service.
Examples
of
wireless
communication solutions for the hospitality industry
include: communication badges, food and drinks
ordering systems, as well as devices that allow hotel
agents to check-in and check-out guests, process
credit cards, print receipts and program room keys
anywhere in or nearby the hotel.
Wireless technology offers, among others, the
following benefits for hotels and the quality of
service they can provide to the guest:

Slight increase in demand.

Shift in the structure of demand, with the
importance of senior citizens for tourism
rising more rapidly than their share of the
population.
A slight decrease in holidays with children.

International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012 (January), e-ISSN 2247 7225
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Table 2. Key data on demographic change up to 2020

Feature
Population
development (volume)
Migration of the
population
Age structure
Gender
Educational structure
Household structure
Household income

Demographic developments
Top 10 source marketsi
Overall: rise (particularly sharp in the emerging markets),
decrease in Japan and Italy
Net balance of migration in the top 10 countries positive,
in the emerging marketsii negative
More older people (esp. in the top 10 countries and particularly in
Japan)
Top 10 countries: slightly higher number of women (will decline
somewhat in future). Emerging markets: opposite trend
Increase in formal education (except in Italy, Austria & Japan)
Overall, households will shrink
To date: rise, in future: no data available

Source: The impact of demographic change on tourism and conclusions for tourism policy (Grimm et al, 2009)

Shifts in travel behaviour, resulting in

particular from journeys made by people in
the age group of 60 to 79 years, include:
a. A higher proportion of journeys abroad
and fewer journeys within their country.
b. More air travel and car journeys, less
travel by coach and rail.
c. Lower seasonality (fewer summer
holidays).
d. Greater significance attributed to
culture, nature and health, with a decline in
beach and relaxing holidays at the same
time.
Price-value. Price and value are significant
factors to the more perceptive guests of today.
Customers and their perceptions about price
have changed. Guests are resistant to paying
more (instead, they prefer to get more for less)
and tourism enterprises should take measures in
order to solve this problem.
The key word today is "value." Value is what
you get compared to what you pay. But how
could a hotelier increase value without lowering
prices?
Here are the top five elements that create value
during a hotel stay:
1. Guestroom design (size, comfort, room
equipment, kitchenette, entertainment, heating /
ventilation / air conditioning, cleanliness).
2. Physical property - exterior, public space
(cleanliness, landscaping, size, architecture).

3. Interpersonal service (service friendliness,

attentiveness,
professionalism,
personal
recognition).
4. Functional
service
(service
speed,
efficiency, checkin and checkout efficiency).
5. Food and beverage related services
(sanitation, quality, atmosphere, room service,
variety, good prices).
Hotels have more flexibility with the services
nr. 3, 4 and 5. Exceptional service is rare and
highly valued by guests. But nr. 5 is the
surprise. Food and beverage is frequently what
guests remember about a hotel experience. It's
often the social side, the fun side of their stay.
Thus, hoteliers should leverage their hotel's
food and beverage, its sanitary environment and
quality, as well as its excitement. Moreover,
hotel managers should communicate it, blog
about it and advertise it, because the food and
beverage division can play an important role in
creating value for guests (Barsky, 2011).
3

Trends in the development of tourism

lodgings

In the past few years there is a certain trend

towards developing green lodgings and an

International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012 (January), e-ISSN 2247 7225
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increasing number of hotels worldwide apply

policies friendly to the environment. This is due
to the fact that green hotels not only do save
money for the owners but they save natural
resources as well, by enhancing the
biodiversity, while at the same time they
promote
environmental conscience to the
guests. Another reason for the development of
green hotels is the fact that there are tourists
who are environmentally sensitized and even
when they travel, they wish to apply resource
saving practices in their everyday life.
Organisations that certify the environmental
policies of various enterprises, have conducted
researches realising that on average a hotel of
150 rooms consumes in one week, the amount
of energy consumed roughly by 1.000
households in one year. The basic reason is that
people in their residences are aware of the water
and energy cost, but in the hotels the increased
consumption does not influence the rate to be
paid by the guests. The possibility of increased
consumption is interwoven with the offered
services and luxury. However, is there a
possibility for the guests to enjoy the luxury of a
hotel without, simultaneously, the environment
to be destroyed? There are some technologies,
e.g. of water saving that decrease the operating
costs. Researches have shown that the hotels
using modern technologies to save water,
consume the one fifth of water per guest in
relation to hotels that do not use them.
Most importantly, the guests do not observe any
difference in the levels of comfort and luxury.
These saving techniques contribute both in the
reduction of water, as well as in in the reduction
of energy for the heating of water.
On average, Americas 47.000 hotels spend
$2.196 per available room each year on energy.
This represents about 6% of all operating costs.
Through a strategic approach to energy
efficiency, a 10% reduction in energy
consumption would have the same financial
effect as increasing the average daily room rate
by $1,35 in full-service hotels or else it would
save $285 million in total.

Energy efficiency provides hotel owners and

operators cost savings that benefit the bottom
line. Efficiency also improves the service of
capital equipment, enhances guest comfort and
demonstrates a commitment to climate
stewardship (http://www.energystar.gov/).
Green hotels prove daily that the environmental
and economic objectives can be achieved at the
same time.
In August 2011 the Cornell Hospitality
Quarterly published a survey under the title:
Hotel Guests Preferences for Green Guest
Room Attributes. The primary purpose of this
study was to identify the attributes that guests
would prefer in a green hotel room. The
analysis revealed that: guests found a green
certification as most influential among these
attributes, they appreciated a recycling policy
with a lobby recycling centre, and they would
be favourable to amenity dispensers instead of
small bottles. A longer-term finding (due to the
expense of a retrofit) is that guests would be
happy with key cards to control the room
electricity, instead of motion detectors. The
respondents also supported the more commonly
featured towel and linen reuse policies and
energy efficient lighting.
These results contribute to the practical
advancement of the hotel industry by indicating
the green attributes that may be most desirable
to guests. This information can help hotel
managers and operators set up their green hotel
room accordingly and also begin to gather
information on the cost of creating a room that
is made up of those preferred attributes.
4

Future trends of tourism and hospitality

4.1. Future trends of tourism

According to the European Tourism: Trends &

Prospects (Q2/2011), the global visitor growth
forecasts for 2012 and 2013 are as follows
(table 3):

International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012 (January), e-ISSN 2247 7225
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Table 3. Short-term global visitor growth forecasts

INBOUND
WORLD
AMERICAS
EUROPE
ASIA
AFRICA
MID EAST

2012
4.8%
4.9%
3.9%
6.9%
5.1%
4.9%

OUTBOUND
2012
2013
5.1%
4.1%
5.2%
4.2%
4.2%
3.9%
7.0%
4.2%
5.6%
4.8%
4.8%
4.1%

2013
3.9%
4.3%
3.3%
4.7%
4.1%
4.1%

Source: European Tourism: Trends & Prospects (Q2/2011)

The above data show that for 2012 Asia is

ranked first among all the other continents
concerning the outbound travels (7%). This is
mainly owed to the emerging market of China.
For 2013 Africa holds the sceptre with 4.8%
growth. For both years Europe has the lowest

growth regarding the inbound, as well as the

outbound travels.
From The Future Trends in Tourism - Global
Perspectives (Willms, 2007), the following
adapted forecasts and figures (tables 4, 5 and 6)
show great interest:

Table 4. Countries expected to grow their travel and tourism demand most rapidly up to 2017

ON A RELATIVE SCALE
Countries expected to grow their Travel and Tourism Demand most rapidly up to
2017 (% Annualized Real Growth) are:
1. China
9.1
2. Montenegro
8.6
3. India
7.9
4. Croatia
7.8
5. Dem. Republic of Congo
7.8
6. Vietnam
7.5
7. Romania
7.4
8. Namibia
7.1
9. Hong Kong
7.0
10. Chad
7.0
Table 5. Countries expected to generate the largest volume of travel and tourism demand in 2017

ON AN ABSOLUTE SCALE
Countries expected to generate the largest volume of Travel and Tourism
Demand in 2017 (US $ mn):
3,067,977
1. United States
1,571,015
2. China
981,437
3. Japan
744,910
4. Germany
605,124
5. United Kingdom
542,658
6. France
503,957
7. Spain
395,970
8. Italy
324,352
9. Russian Federation
311,412
10. Canada

International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012 (January), e-ISSN 2247 7225
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Table 6. Countries expected to generate the largest amount of travel & tourism economy employment in 2017

ON AN EMPLOYMENT SCALE
Countries expected to generate the largest amount of Travel and Tourism Economy
Employment in 2017 (000 of Jobs):
75,710
1. China
28,322
2. India
16,125
3. United States
9,422
4. Japan
7,773
5. Brazil
6,853
6. Indonesia
5,469
7. Mexico
4,962
8. Germany
4,858
9. Spain
4,766
10. Thailand
Source (tables 4, 5 and 6): The Future Trends in Tourism - Global Perspectives (Willms, 2007)

The
nited
Nations
World
Tourism
Organizations ( NWTO) Tourism 2020 Vision
forecasts that international arrivals are expected
to reach nearly 1.6 billion by the year 2020. Of
these worldwide arrivals in 2020, 1.2 billion
will be intraregional and 378 million will be
long-haul travellers.
The top three receiving regions of the total
tourist arrivals by 2020, will be Europe (717
million tourists), East Asia & the Pacific (397
million) and the Americas (282 million),
followed by Africa, the Middle East and South
Asia (http://www.unwto.org/).

More emphasis on the internet and

technology.
Guests virtual and physical social
networks will be the best distribution
channels.
5 Trends in the Greek tourism and
hospitality industry
5.1.

Basic figures and performance

indicators of Greek tourism

The basic figures of the Greek tourism for 2010 are

the following:

Contribution to GDP: 15,3%

Contribution to employment: 17,9%
Employment (direct and indirect): 746.200
International tourism receipts: 9,6 bi.
International tourist arrivals: 15 mi.
Average per capita tourism expenditure: 640
Market share: 1,60% World, 3,15% European
Hotel capacity: 9.732 hotels, 763.407 beds
Top 5 markets: Germany, United Kingdom,
FYROM, France and Italy
o Position in the world ranking: rank in arrivals
17, rank in receipts 21.
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

4.2. Future trends of hospitality

The future trends in the hospitality industry can
be summarized as follows:
More green and eco-lodgings.
Development of mega hotels (multipurpose facilities with casino, shops,
theatre, theme park, etc.).
More boutique hotels.
Intelligent hotels with advanced technology
using the guests virtual fingerprint in order
to perform all the operations (check-in,
charges, check-out, etc.).
Increasing employee salaries in order to
retain the existing staff.

The tables 7 and 8 are comparison tables of the basic

figures and performance indicators of the Greek
tourism for the years 2000, 2005 and 2010.

International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012 (January), e-ISSN 2247 7225
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Table 7. Basic figures of Greek tourism for the years 2000, 2005 & 2010

Basic Figures
Contribution to GDP
Contribution to Employment
Employment (direct & indirect)
Hotel Capacity (hotels / beds)
Top 5 Markets

2000
16,4%
19,7%
777.600
8.073 / 593.990
UK, Germany,
Italy, France,
the Netherlands

YEAR
2005
17,3%
20,2%
837.700
9.036 / 682.050
UK, Germany,
Italy, France,
the Netherlands

2010
15,3%
17,9%
746.200
9.732 / 763.407
Germany, UK,
FYROM,
France, Italy

Increase in employment 2000 2005: 7,72%

Decrease in employment 2000 2010: 4,2%
Increase in hotel capacity 2000 2005: 11,92%
Increase in hotel capacity 2000 2010: 20,54%
Table 8. Greek tourism performance indicators for the years 2000, 2005 & 2010

Performance Indicators
Rank-International Arrivals
Rank-Receipts
International Tourist Arrivals (mi.)
International Tourism Receipts (bi.)
Average per Capita Expenditure
Market Share World-Arrivals
Market Share World-Receipts

2000
13th
11th
12,4
9,2 $
741,9 $
1,8%
1,9%

YEAR
2005
17th
12th
12,9
13,7 $
1.062,0 $
1,6%
2,0%

2010
17th
21st
15
12,7 $
846,7 $
1,6%
1,4%

Source (tables 7 and 8): Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Increase in arrivals 2000 2005: 4.0%

Increase in receipts 2000 2005: 48.9%
Increase in arrivals 2000 2010: 21%
Increase in receipts 2000 2010: 38%
than 5%. This poor performance was the
result of insecurity in the source markets
about on-going turbulences in the Greek
economy and society. This situation
stimulated Greek travel companies to offer
prices discounted by up to 15% and lastminute deals. Promotional offers had a
positive impact on the number of arrivals in
August and September and 2010 closed with
a marginal increase in international tourist
arrivals of 1%, to reach 15 million trips.

5.2. Findings concerning the Greek

tourism and hospitality
2010 was one of the most difficult periods of
the last 50 years for the Greek economy. The
GDP of Greece has decreased both in 2010
and 2011 while unemployment increased to
16,3%. The recession is expected to continue
in 2012 in the country.
During the first half of 2010, international
tourist arrivals to Greece decreased by more

International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012 (January), e-ISSN 2247 7225
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Despite the small increase in tourist arrivals

in 2010, incoming tourist receipts decreased
by 7%. A number of reasons were behind
this decline. Discounts offered by hotels and
travel retailers to attract customers reduced
the average expenditure per arrival.
Moreover, due to the decline in arrivals in
the first six months of the year several luxury
resorts did not open before June. In addition,
the average length of stay decreased
(http://www.euromonitor.com/).
Besides the increased number of arrivals so
far in 2011, one can say that the tourism
industry as a whole strengthened in 2011,
mainly due to a) the reduction of VAT for
hotels
(6,5%),
enhancing
their
competitiveness, b) simplified procedures for
travel documents, particularly boosting
Russian arrivals and c) partial lifting of
restrictions for the cruise industry (however,
still much needs to be done).
According to a report of the Hellenic
Statistical Authority in July 2011 there was a
spectacular increase comparing foreign
arrivals of the first quarter 2011 with 2010
from France (+70,5%), Russia (+79,8%) and
Turkey (+97,8%), while arrivals from Britain
rose by 32,4% and from the US by 16,6%.
On the other hand there was a decline of
19,5% in arrivals from Germany and 15,9%
from Cyprus.
International arrivals by air really picked up
in the 2nd quarter of 2011, with Thessaloniki
and the rest of Greece seeing substantial
increases of 20,9% and 17,0% respectively,
while Athens stabilised. As a result the year
to date numbers turned positive as well.
In terms of RevPAR (Revenue per Available
Room) the developments for Athens and
Thessaloniki were also positive with an
increase of 8,9% for Athens compared to 4,3% in the 1st quarter and 3,3% for
Thessaloniki compared to -11,1% in the 1st
quarter. The resort hotels opened their doors
in the 2nd quarter and showed excellent
performance with an increase of 12,4% in
RevPAR compared to the 2nd quarter of
2010, resulting in a year to date of 11,2%.
For the 3rd quarter of 2011 hoteliers remain
optimistic for their occupancy development,

with the hoteliers from Crete being the most

optimistic of all, expecting increases in
occupancy levels as well as in prices.
6

Conclusions

There is a global increase in tourism and

hospitality both in tourist arrivals and tourism
expenditure. The trends that are mostly
affecting the industry are: the increased concern
with guests safety and security; the enhanced
diversity in the workforce composition; the
importance of outstanding services leading to
additional opportunities for increased revenue;
the new technologies which contribute to
improved guest services and enhance
competitiveness; the population ageing that
impacts directly on tourist demand and the
tourism labour market; and the correlation
between price and value which is very
important for the perceptive guests of today.
In the field of tourism lodgings development,
the trend is an increasing number of hotels
worldwide applying policies friendly to the
environment. The green lodgings not only do
save money for the owners but they save natural
resources as well, attracting more and more
guests who are environmentally sensitized.
The global visitor growth forecasts for 2012 and
2013 estimate that both the inbound and
outbound travels will continue to grow, with
Europe having the lowest growth in relation to
the other continents. Among the countries
expected to grow their travel and tourism
demand most rapidly up to 2017 are China,
Montenegro and India, whereas the countries
expected to generate the largest volume of
demand in 2017 are the United States, China
and Japan. NWTOs Tourism Vision forecasts
that by the year 2020 the top three receiving
regions will be Europe, East Asia & the Pacific
and the Americas.
The future trends in the hospitality industry
include more green and eco-lodgings;
development of mega hotels; more boutique
hotels; intelligent hotels with advanced
technology; and guests virtual and physical
social networks to be the best distribution
channels.

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International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012 (January), e-ISSN 2247 7225
www.ijept.org

The position of Greece in the world ranking for

2010 was 17th (in arrivals) and 21st (in receipts).
The comparison of Greek tourism performance
indicators for the years 2000, 2005 & 2010
shows that almost all the indicators for 2005
were improved in relation to 2000, with
International
Tourism
Receipts
having
improved significantly (by 48,9%). On the
contrary, the International Tourism Receipts
declined by 1 billion US dollars (7,8%) in 2010
in relation to 2005, despite the fact that the
International Tourist Arrivals increased by 2,1
million. The hotel capacity in 2010 reached the
763.407 beds (increased by 12% compared to
2005).

Due to the serious recession Greece is facing,

tourism is the only way out for both the country
and the tourism entrepreneurs. It is suggested
that hoteliers analyse very carefully the current
and future trends in the industry and make the
right adaptations, as well as they invest in
exceptional services offered by their property,
in greening their lodging, in new technologies
in order to enhance their competitiveness and in
utilizing the social networks for their marketing.
Moreover, the hotel owners should consider the
retirees as their potential guests and make all
the necessary efforts in order to attract them and
finally, they must seek ways to retain effective,
diverse and competent staff.

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Author description
Soultana (Tania) Kapiki is an Ass. Professor at the Tourism Management Department of the ATEI,
Thessaloniki. She has been the coordinator of the ALFA project "SUTTI" and steering committee
member of the LIFE-Environment project "ShMILE". Currently she is the coordinator of four Erasmus
Mundus for Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan projects (2007-today), as well as project manager in three
Erasmus Mundus Action 2 projects (for the Western Balkans, the Central Asian Republics and
Palestine). She is also the Departments academic coordinator for the EU Erasmus programme and head
of the Hospitality Courses Sector.
i

Top 10 source markets comprise the Netherlands, the USA, the UK, Switzerland, Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, Denmark
and Japan.
ii

The growth markets, or emerging markets, which may play an increasingly important role as source markets in the future
are: China, the Gulf States, Russia and India.

12