Tourism in Greece

Greece attracts more than 17.5 million people each year, contributing 15% to the nation's Gross Domestic Product. Greece has been an attraction for international visitors since antiquity for its rich and long history, Mediterranean coastline and beaches. In 2005, 6,088,287 tourists alone visited the city of Athens, the capital city.^{[citation needed]}

History

The Parthenon in Athens.

Tourism in Greece traces its roots to the ancient times. When Greece was annexed by the Roman Empire, the cultural exchange that started between the two civilization triggered as a result a large number of Romans visiting the famous centers of Greek philosophy and science, such as Athens, Corinth and Thebes, partly because Greece had become a province of the Roman Empire and Greeks were granted Roman citizenship.

Tourism in modern-day Greece started to flourish in the 1960s and 1970s, in what became known as mass tourism. During that time, large-scale construction projects for hotels and other such facilities were undertaken and the country saw an increase in international tourists over the years. International events such as the 2004 Summer Olympic Games and the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, both held in Athens, greatly helped to boost tourism in the country, while large-scale nationally-funded cultural infrastructure such as the New Acropolis Museum also contributed to the flow of tourists in the country.

Visitors

The caldera of Santorini.

Myrtos Beach on the island Kefalonia

In 2009, the country welcomed over 19.3 million tourists, a major increase from the 17.7 million tourists the country welcomed in 2008. The vast majority of tourists in the country are from within the European Union (12.7 million), followed by those from the Americas (0.56 million), Asia (0.52 million), Oceania (0.1 million) and Africa (0.06 million). In the year 2007, more British people visited the country than any other nationality, numbering 2.61 million in total, making up 15% of the country's tourists for that year alone. Additionally, 2.3 million Germans, 1.8 million Albanians and 1.1 million Bulgarians visited the country that year. In 2007, 92.8% of the total number of tourists in Greece were from countries in Europe.. In the last years, there has been significant increase in number of tourists from Israel.

The most-visited region of Greece is that of Central Macedonia in northern Greece, near some of the most popular attractions in the country such as Halkidiki, Mount Olympus, Pella, the birthplace of Alexander the Great, and Greece's second-largest city, Thessaloniki. In 2009, Central Macedonia welcomed 3.6 million tourists, or 18% of the total number of tourists that visited Greece that year, followed by Attica (2.6 million) and the Peloponnese (1.8 million). Northern Greece is the country's most-visited region, with 6.5 million tourists, while Central Greece comes second with 6.3 million.

According to a survey conducted in China in 2005, Greece was voted as the Chinese people's number one choice as a tourist destination. In November 2006, Austria, like China, announced that Greece was the favourite tourist destination for its citizens. In line with these observations, Greece's former Minister of Tourism Aris Spiliotopoulos announced the opening of a Greek National Tourism Organization office in Shanghai by the end of 2010, and GNTO currently operates two tourism offices in China, one in Shanghai and one in Beijing.

Economic impact

At the same time, tourism consumption increased considerably since the turn of the millennium, from US$ 17.7 bn. in 2000 to US$ 29.6 bn. in 2004. The numbers of jobs directly or indirectly related to the tourism sector were 659,719 and represented 16.5% of the country's total employment for that year.

Infrastructure

Panorama of the city of Heraklion.

As a developed country highly dependent on tourism, Greece offers a wide variety of tourist facilities. Tourism infastructure in Greece has been greatly improved since the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and continues to expand with a number of important projects particularly in areas of less mass-tourism.

Hotels and conference facilities

The five-star Porto Carras Hotel and Resort in Halkidiki in northern Greece hosted a European Union leader's summit in 2003.

Conference tourism, targeted at academic, business, or cultural markets is a cornerstone of the Greek national tourism policy. As a result, the Greek government, with strong support from local authorities, has been offering lucrative cash grants, leasing and employment subsidies and tax allowances to establish new conference facilities and expand existing ones. In a recent report in Meeting and Incentive Travel, Greece was ranked eighth in the world in overnight stays for conferences. Figures from the Tourism Satellite Accounting Research, conducted by WTTC (World Travel & Tourism Council) project a worldwide increase in revenues in business travel to Greece from US $1.51 bn. in 2001 to US $2.69 bn. in 2011. In 1998, the figure stood at US $1.18 bn.

According to the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, the number of hotels in Greece was by classification (bedplaces):

Star rating	Number	Beds
5 star	176	64,913
4 star	994	176,631
3 star	1,804	163,077
2 star	4,460	231,333
1 star	1,677	57,298
Total	9,111	693,252

Marinas

Greece has 51 marinas and 14,661 mooring places that provide such services as berths, fuel, water and electricity, telephony, and repairs. Some of the most developed and busiest marinas in Greece are just a few kilometres from the centre of Athens. The marinas of Alimos and Flisvos, on the south coast of Athens, have an aggregated capacity of more than 1,800 vessels.

Spas and thermal springs

Greece has 752 thermosprings. Many have been classified as therapeutic by the National Institute for Geographical and Mineral Research.

Museums

Several kinds of museums are located in the Hellenic Republic. Most of them can be found in the big cities like Athens, where the famous New Acropolis Museum and the National Archaeological Museum are located. Furthermore there is a vast number of galleries like the Athens National Gallery Εθνική Πινακοθήκη. There are many museums in Thessaloniki too, like the Byzantine Museum. Overral, there are approximately 150 museums all over the country which are easily accessible for the tourists

Archaeological sites and cities

View of the town of Rhodes.

View of the town of Corfu.

Promoting Greek tourism

The government intends to promote winter tourism in Greece, which could potentially increase international arrivals even further.

Tourism in Greece is run by the Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) who used Helena Paparizou, a famous Greek singer who won Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 as an ambassador. Singer Sakis Rouvas, who represented Greece in the 2009 Eurovision song contest is currently the ambassador for Greek Tourism. The new logo of the Greek National Tourism Organisation consists of nine circles, which symbolize the nine new kinds of tourism that should be promoted to combat the tourism sector's seasonality. The new logo's slogan is "Greece, the true experience", which shows that the marketing campaign is nowadays directed towards experience seekers and not just mass tourism.

The drawback of the new logo is that at a first glance it cannot be associated with Greece. The advertisements displayed in the GNTO's web-site still focus on the triptych of sea, sun and sand. However, the tourism campaign is undergoing a significant change as city-breaks and conference tourism are promoted, along with cultural and wellness tourism. The impact of the new campaign will hopefully result in increased tourist revenues.

Gallery

Tourism in Greece gallery

The town of Kalavryta.   The town of Metsovo.   The town of Mykonos.   General view of Makrinitsa, a village in Mount Pelion.   Spring in Agrafa.   Panoramic view of Vikos Gorge, part of the Vikos–Aoös National Park.   Vasilitsa ski resort, one of the 18 ski resorts in Greece.   Stemnitsa village in Peloponnese.

See also

• Culture of Greece
• History of Greece
• Economy of Greece
• Laiki agora

External links

• Official Greece tourism site
• Greece travel guide from Wikitravel
• Greece travel and tourism at the Open Directory Project
• Greek Hotels Online
• Greek Parga Hotels Online