Why Tourism is becoming a Year-Round Industry

Tourism is Greece's biggest industry, contributing an estimated 15% of gross domestic product and more than $8bn yearly in foreign exchange.
The tourist industry is Greece's largest employer by a wide margin, although the season lasts only six months in most regions.
Government policy focuses on promoting year-round tourism and improving revenues by providing more facilities for high-spending visitors.
Assets owned by the state-controlled Hellenic Tourist Organisation ( ) are being offered to international investors for development on long leases.
Promoting marine tourism is also a priority, under a scheme to create a chain of marinas and yacht anchorages across the Ionian and Aegean islands
Priorities for Tourist Policies
Lucrative Foreign Investment Packages-Lure International Businesses to Greece

Greece faces increasing competition from other Mediterranean destinations - such as Turkey and Tunisia - that offer a similar mix of sun, sea, and ancient sites. Government policy for the tourist sector is aimed at upgrading facilities to levels prevailing in Spain and Italy, and providing incentives for hoteliers to develop year-round tourism based on a variety of activities -- sport , international conferences, and cultural and special interest tourist.
EOT Offers Packages to Foreign Investors
Attracting private investors from abroad is crucial to upgrading Greece's tourist industry. The government plans to achieve this by offering assets controlled by the Hellenic Tourist Organisation ( EOT ) for development by private investors on leases of at least 40 years. About 300 of EOT's assets - mainly coastal sites and other sites estimated to be worth $10bn - have been transferred to EOT Estate Development Corporation, a holding company .
EOT operates only about 50 facilities. These include some properties in the Xenia hotel chain, marinas , campsites , ski resorts , and buildings in traditional styles that have been converted into small hotels. The remaining 250 facilities are operated by private Greek companies or, in some cases, local municipalities, under leasing or concession agreements. These include hotels, restaurants, commercial properties, and spa facilities.

EOT Assets Floated on Athens Stock Exchange
EOT Estate Development plans to group 49% of its assets in a series of real estate investment trusts, which would be floated on the Athens Stock Exchange to raise capital for development. It is poised to appoint an international adviser to help identify projects, operate tenders and select private investors. The projects would be developed on a leasehold or concession basis, or as joint ventures with Estate Development. Priority will be given to projects that help to diversify Greece's tourist product, provide new jobs in significant numbers, and ensure protection of the environment.
One attraction for international investors is that EOT's properties include sizeable areas of land in prime urban and coastal areas, with infrastructure already in place. In the first phase, Estate Development plans to promote at least one sports tourism centre, several spas focusing on health and fitness, and a theme park in the Athens area based on Greek mythology. All three projects would be completed in time for the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.

Upgrading Greece's Tourist Industry
New facilities, special interest holidays and five star resorts will attract top-class tourists year-round
Greece has seen steady growth in tourist arrivals over the past decade, from 9.3 million in 1990 to 12.8 million in 1999.
Arrivals rose by an estimated 15% last year. The increase focused on the southern islands of Crete, with its burgeoning eco-tourism and trekking, and beautiful Cyprus.
Most tourists come on package holidays, flying directly to a resort destination aboard an international charter flight. While the number of arrivals increased by over 30% during the 1990s, the average stay declined in length from over two weeks to about 10 days. Spending by tourists increased only marginally.
For most tourists, Greece is attractive as a comparatively inexpensive sun-and-sea destination, rather than for its classical sites. The number of visitors to the major ancient sites and museums declined during the 1990s. On the other hand, there were more visitors to archaeological sites on islands that have become tourist destinations.

Who Goes Where
The tourist industry is heavily dependent on visitors from Germany and the UK, who together account for about 50% of arrivals. They are followed by other western Europeans, mainly French, Scandinavians and Italians. There are comparatively few high-spending US and Japanese visitors. The number of tourists from the former communist countries of eastern and central Europe is increasing at a steady pace.

Upgrades Attract Big Spenders
Arrivals are projected to increase by about 12-15% yearly over the next five years, reaching a peak in 2004, when the Olympic Games will be staged in Athens. Infrastructure improvement, mainly the expansion of island airports, has contributed to the increase in tourist arrivals. But there are no plans to increase the 20 existing international gateways to Greece. Instead, hydrofoils and fast catamarans will ferry tourists from an island airport hub to smaller islands.
More than 50% of visitors to Greece stay on half-a-dozen resort islands - Crete, Rhodes, Cos, Corfu, Mykonos and Santorini. - with airports equipped to handle international charter flights. In northern Greece, the main destination is the Halkidiki pensinsula.
Greek cruise companies, operating smaller and older ships than their international competitors, cater for about 250,000 passengers yearly.
Alternative tourism, including ecological and special interest holidays is gaining ground, but remains a small segment of the overall market.

From Traditional Rooms to Five Star Resorts
Greece has an estimated 1.5 million beds in hotels and rooms for rent. Only 30,000 are in luxury and first-class hotels. About one-third of beds in this category are in big hotels in central Athens that cater as much for business travellers as for tourists. At mainland resorts and on the islands, most hotels are still family-owned and operated.
Few international hotel chains have acquired properties in Greece. Only a handful of resorts offer international standard sports facilities, although health and fitness facilities are gradually being introduced. The alternative for wealthy tourists is to charter a yacht for a private Aegean cruise.