Greece: Tourism Helps, Economy Needs More

After a number of downward trend years, tourism in neighboring Greece is set for another promising period.
Foreign arrivals matched the 2008 all-time high of over 17 million in 2014, with October being a particularly good month. It is expected that holidaymakers contributed 13 billion euros to the national economy.
The Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) says the sector provides a fifth of the gross domestic product (GDP) and employs 20 percent of the total workforce. (www.sete.gr)
Yet, even if tourism is on an upward trend and further assuming that in the near future the 20 million tourist mark could theoretically be reached, at least three-quarters of Greece's GDP would still have to be generated through other means. And this is where the bulk of the political homework for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's newly formed government really begins. In a nutshell: Attracting a sustainably high number of foreign visitors, while radically diversifying other industry sectors, as well as stabilizing the national budget.
Expatriates and international travelers in general love Greece and Turkey, of course. Both countries have impressive track records in this regard, with the latter coming out on top by a clear margin. A total of 36.8 million foreign tourists visited Turkey last year, spending a staggering 29 billion euros, an average spending of 780 euros per adult per day. Interestingly enough, this figure stands at 760 euros for Greece; hence, the sector allows for a cross-border comparison.
It appears that the two countries have managed to attract similar types of tourists, although perhaps the inbound nationalities may differ. What matters is the readiness to invest heavily in one's annual holiday, regardless of economic worries back home. Besides, the average of just under 800 euros spent daily has more or less stabilized over the past four to five years; hence, both countries seem to have managed to keep prices at affordable and family-friendly levels.
Greece and Turkey are known for beach vacations making up the vast majority of the tourism income. However, Turkey, with a much larger landmass, has invested in other forms of tourism over the past decade, such as health and faith-based tourism -- and very successfully so. Thinking of the Acropolis in Greece and Ephesus in Turkey, we see the presence of historical tourism, too. Greece may have been a brand name for mass tourism before Turkey joined that group of intriguing travel destinations in the 1980s, yet Turkey caught up swiftly.
The gist of my article is nevertheless a word of warning. What Athens may learn from Ankara is that although tourism is a substantial factor in a country's ideally balanced budget, it should never become the only dominant indicator. Even if each country could attract twice the number of today's international tourists-- which would be ecologically catastrophic anyways -- that income would still never be near enough to help manage a country.
Instead, the strategy could include continuing to promote Greece as a brand name for quality tourism, while attracting investors to create employment in other industry sectors -- including education and financial services. Although according to SETE a fifth of the working population is employed in tourism, they must secure employment for the remaining four-fifths, too.
A final thought: as Greece and Turkey share the Aegean Sea, so to speak, would it perhaps be a good idea to work more closely together, advocating “two countries-in-one holiday” offers more proactively?

KLAUS JURGENS (Cihan/Today's Zaman)