II.

OECD COUNTRY PROFILES – GREECE

Greece

Tourism in the economy

Tourism is a central pillar of the Greek economy. In 2016, direct tourism GVA was
estimated to be EUR 9.6 billion, which represented 6.4% of national GVA. In the same year,
tourism directly supported nearly 366 000 jobs, accounting for approximately one in ten
jobs in Greece.
In 2016, Greece received a record number of international tourist arrivals for the fourth
consecutive year, totalling 28 million visitors, an increase of 7.5% on 2015. Overnight stays
in Greece totalled 193.4 million, up by 2.9% from 188 million in 2015. Visits from EU
countries accounted for 61.3% of all arrivals and saw an overall growth of 15% in 2016. In
the same year, as far as the cruise sector is concerned, 4 093 cruise ship arrivals (4 375 in
2015) were recorded, while the number of cruise passenger visits was stable at 5.1 million.
Domestic tourism in Greece was estimated to account for 5.8 million trips and
57 million overnight stays in 2015 (down 10.2% from 2014). The vast majority of these trips
(over 90%) were for leisure purposes, however, nearly two-thirds (64%) of total trips and
over three-quarters (78.4%) of total nights were spent in non-commercial accommodation.

Tourism governance and funding

Acknowledging the importance of tourism as a crucial factor in the Greek economy, a
separate Ministry of Tourism was established in November 2016. The Ministry formulates
the country’s tourism policy, introduces legislative reforms, undertakes tourism planning
and coordinates activities with other ministries in order to boost investment and improve
the quality and competitiveness of Greek tourism. A number of directorates are responsible
for the various functions of the Ministry. Within this structure, the National Strategic
Reference Framework Executive (NSRF) reports directly to the Secretary General for Tourism
Policy and Development, and contributes to the formulation of proposals which lead to
specific tourism projects.
The Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) is a public entity under the
supervision of the Ministry. Its mission is to organise, develop and promote Greek tourism,
within the country and worldwide, utilising its 16 overseas offices.
The Hellenic Chamber of Hotels is the state’s institutional consultant and the
competent authority responsible for the official classification of hotels, rooms and
apartments for rent.
The Ministry of Tourism has 14 Regional Tourism Offices, located in each region, which
have responsibility for licensing and inspecting tourism businesses, conducting quality
control, monitoring official classification and imposing administrative sanctions on
tourism businesses.

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At the local level, Regions and Municipalities design and implement programmes and
activities for tourism development and promotion. These activities are not financed by the
central government; local authorities make use of their own resources or European
programme funds. Regarding tourism promotion activities in particular, it is mandatory for
all public (national or local) authorities to obtain prior approval from the GNTO, with a view
to harmonising tourism promotion campaigns with the overall tourism promotion strategy
of the country.
In 2016 the budget of the Ministry of Tourism was EUR 49 million. Of this,
EUR 26 million comes from the regular budget, with a further public investment budget
made up of approximately EUR 10 million from national sources (used for promotional
activities by GNTO), and EUR 13 million from EU co-financing (used for innovation,
infrastructure, projects, skills and SME support).

Greece: Organisational chart of tourism bodies

Minister of Tourism Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO)

Press and Public Relations Office Department of Parliamentary

Unit for Internal Auditing Control
Special Service for the
Secretary General- Sectoral for Promotion and Licensing of
Secretary General-
Tourism Policy Tourism Enterprises
Administrative for Tourism
and Development
NSRF Executive Structure
Directorate General for Financial
and Administrative Affairs
Directorate General for
Department for Civil Emergency Tourism Policy
Planning

Regional Tourism Units

Directorate for Financial Affairs

Directorate of Strategic
Directorate for Administration Affairs Planning

Directorate for Tourism Education and Directorate of Research

Training

Directorate of Quality
Tourism Education and Training Units Standards
and Tourist Guides Schools
Directorate of Spatial
Directorate for Planning and Infrastructure
Legislative Coordination and Better
Regulation

Source: OECD, adapted from the Ministry of Tourism, 2018.

Tourism policies and programmes

Since 2015 the Ministry of Tourism has been implementing a New Tourism Policy to
promote Greece as a globally attractive destination offering unique and authentic travel
experiences, 365 days a year. All initiatives are geared towards increasing international travel
share, further enriching the tourism offer, and enhancing competitiveness. The strategic
pillars are:
● Extending the tourism season by innovative product development in close co-operation
with all 13 Regions.

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II. OECD COUNTRY PROFILES – GREECE

● Promoting new thematic tourism products and special interest tourism with an emphasis
on cultural tourism, pilgrimage tourism, cruises, yachting, diving parks, wellness and
spas, medical tourism, MICE, luxury tourism, city-breaks, and Greek gastronomy.
● Targeting new dynamic source-markets (Middle East, China, South Korea, and as of 2017
India) while enhancing Greece’s presence in traditional markets in Europe, Russia and
the United States.
● Increasing air connectivity/direct flights from central and regional foreign airports to
existing and new destinations in Greece.
● Attracting investments of high quality and added value to upgrade the overall tourism
product and accommodate the expected increase in demand in the coming years.
● Creating and promoting synergies with other economic sectors (e.g. agri-food, manufacturing).
In response to this strategy, a number of specific actions have been implemented to
increase tourism flows and lengthen the season. For example, the Minister of Tourism
supported the introduction of a direct year-round Athens-New York service by Emirates,
which is expected to generate consistently high demand and enhance business, culture
and leisure connections on both sides of the Atlantic.
In the field of tourism education and training, the core priorities are to provide:
● Tourism enterprises with qualified personnel in order to increasingly improve the
quality of the services provide.
● Unqualified employees with opportunities to acquire the necessary skills in order to be
more productive and competitive in the labour market.
● Incentives to tourism enterprises to hire qualified personnel.
● Quality education to tourist guides.
Tourism product innovation and upgrade involve:
● Pursuing the proper utilisation of funding instruments available within the framework of
the NSRF.
● Regulating the licensing and general functioning of different types of tourism businesses
(including lodgings, ski centres, mountain shelters, thermal establishments, travel and
tourism agencies, and chauffeuring services), through a set of Joint Ministerial Decisions.
● Streamlining the legal and regulatory framework concerning domestic and foreign
investment. To this end, a comprehensive “Codification of Tourism Legislation” was
completed and implemented, with the purpose of reducing administrative-regulatory
barriers, improving the business environment, and thereby promoting transparency and
increased investment in the tourism sector (Box 1.18).

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 II. OECD COUNTRY PROFILES – GREECE

Statistical profile

Table 1. Greece: Domestic, inbound and outbound tourism

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
TOURISM FLOWS, THOUSAND
Domestic tourism
Total domestic trips .. .. .. .. ..
Overnight visitors (tourists) 6 257 4 615 5 340 4 842 4 590
Same-day visitors (excursionists) .. .. .. .. ..
Nights in all types of accommodation 45 246 47 955 53 212 48 660 46 438
Hotels and similar establishments 4 596 4 491 5 487 5 275 4 405
Specialised establishments 956 537 609 481 528
Other collective establishments 571 356 833 402 367
Private accommodation 39 123 42 571 46 282 42 503 41 139
Inbound tourism
Total international arrivals 16 947 | 20 111 24 272 26 114 28 071
Overnight visitors (tourists) .. .. .. .. ..
Same-day visitors (excursionists) .. .. .. .. ..
Top markets
Germany 2 109 | 2 268 2 459 2 810 3 139
United Kingdom 1 921 | 1 846 2 090 2 397 2 895
Bulgaria 599 | 692 1 535 1 901 2 523
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 1 300 | 1 692 2 347 3 023 1 721
Italy 848 | 964 1 118 1 355 1 387
Nights in all types of accommodation 142 417 | 162 918 186 927 188 012 193 419
Hotels and similar establishments .. .. .. .. ..
Specialised establishments .. .. .. .. ..
Other collective establishments .. .. .. .. ..
Private accommodation .. .. .. .. ..
Outbound tourism
Total international departures 4 681 4 594 5 802 6 291 7 235
Overnight visitors (tourists) .. .. .. .. ..
Same-day visitors (excursionists) .. .. .. .. ..
Top destinations
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 1 185 1 393 1 800 1 979 1 923
Bulgaria 509 536 751 1 109 1 557
Turkey 533 524 716 652 803
Germany 417 357 469 400 444
Italy 286 310 292 297 364
TOURISM RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE, MILLION EUR
Inbound tourism
Total international receipts 11 293 13 168 14 652 15 569 13 207 p
International travel receipts 10 443 e 12 152 13 393 14 126 13 207 p
International passenger transport receipts 850 1 016 1 259 1 443 ..
Outbound tourism
Total international expenditure 2 232 2 837 3 014 3 191 2 006 p
International travel expenditure 1 844 e 1 835 2 076 2 037 2 006 p
International passenger transport expenditure 388 1 002 937 1 154 ..
.. Not available; | Break in series; e Estimated value; p Provisional data
Source: OECD Tourism Statistics (Database).

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Table 2. Greece: Enterprises and employment in tourism

Number of
Number of persons employed
establishments
2016 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Total .. .. .. .. .. ..
Tourism industries 60 595 286 392 274 131 320 003 347 756 365 892
Accommodation services for visitors 48 864 66 741 60 639 75 931 75 068 79 615
Hotels and similar establishments 48 864 59 281 54 333 69 617 67 851 72 238
Food and beverage serving industry .. 205 235 198 122 220 539 249 681 261 484
Passenger transport .. .. .. .. .. ..
Air passenger transport .. .. .. .. .. ..
Railways passenger transport .. .. .. .. .. ..
Road passenger transport 6 521 .. .. .. .. ..
Water passenger transport .. .. .. .. .. ..
Passenger transport supporting services .. .. .. .. .. ..
Transport equipment rental .. 2 496 2 083 2 205 4 002 3 921
Travel agencies and other reservation services
5 170 11 920 13 287 21 328 19 005 20 872
industry
Cultural industry .. .. .. .. .. ..
Sports and recreation industry .. .. .. .. .. ..
Retail trade of country-specific tourism
.. .. .. .. .. ..
characteristic goods
Other country-specific tourism industries 40 .. .. .. .. ..
Other industries .. .. .. .. .. ..
.. Not available
Source: OECD Tourism Statistics (Database).

1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888933640177

184 OECD TOURISM TRENDS AND POLICIES 2018 © OECD 2018

 From:
OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2018

Access the complete publication at:

https://doi.org/10.1787/tour-2018-en

Please cite this chapter as:

OECD (2018), “Greece”, in OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2018, OECD Publishing, Paris.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/tour-2018-19-en

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