6 March 2009 | The Greek government is considering advertising options for the country as an attractive tourist destination, for which it has set aside 75 million euro.

The amount dedicated to Greece’s popularisation as a tourist destination is 50 per cent more than the sum the government committed last year.

At the same time, the country’s largest opposition party, the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), is blaming the government for lacking a plan to battle the most pessimistic scenario for tourism – namely the 30-per cent drop in the flow of tourist, or – as BalkanTravellers.com reported recently, Greece’s biggest drop in the last 30 years, expected to cause a loss in income of 2 billion euro.

If the tourist flow to Greece decreases even with just the minimal 10 per cent, the income from tourism will drop by 20 per cent, the Kathimerini newspaper wrote recently, quoting experts. This would then lead to a loss of 50,000 jobs in the sector.

The biggest losses will be incurred by the four and five-star hotels – up to 1.5 billion euro, according to experts. This would then affect other parts of the market along the chain, with food suppliers expected to suffer the most.

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