Germans may not want to come to Greece even for a free holiday. However, they do not exclude Greece as a holiday destination, according to the research conducted by the Institute of Business Administration and Tourism of the Westküste University of Applied Sciences, which was presented on May 28 in a special event at the Acropolis Museum.
Referring to the areas that Greece should invest in to increase its shares in the international tourism arena, the professor of the Institute Bernd Eisenstein highlighted that culture, marine tourism, gastronomy as well as special forms of tourism, should be given particular attention.
Referring to the most representative findings of the research conducted in Germany, he distinguishes the fact that Greece is in the last place of choice, for those asked to respond to which country they would go for five days with expenses paid, as only 1,3% preferred Greece. For 2013, 0,8% of the people asked responded that they want to visit Greece. Although the research was carried out in the end of 2012, it did however show that the economic crisis is not an obstacle for German tourists in Greece, as in the question what they think about Greece as a tourist destination, the economic crisis is in the eleventh and last place. The Acropolis, the sun, the sea, the culture, the food etc. are their main responses.
The positive side of the research, which is linked to the recognition of Greece, is that 90% of Germans consider vacationing in Greece, while 57% said that the Greek tourist product is nice. However, as professor B. Eisenstein stressed, this percentage is not capitalized in arrivals as he considers that Greece doesn’t have a strong ‘brand name”.
The President of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, George Tsakiris, intervened referring to the importance of the German market for Greek tourism, which despite the bad course of arrival numbers over the recent years, this year, as it was stressed, Germans are returning to Greece. The German market is the second most important market in Greece, after the English market.
Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni, after referring that she expects the findings of the research for further use, she emphasized that Greece is working towards the exploitation of all forms of tourism which will bring added value to the current model.
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