Tim Ananiadis, Manager of Great Bretagne hotel, said that tourists that plan to visit Greece and the Greek islands ask whether the country is a safe destination.
Reservations emerged strongly at the start of the season, but fell to the minimum recently, after the unrest in Athens on June 28 and 29, he noted at a press conference of the Attica hotel association.
The issue not only applies to hotels in Athens downtown, he said. “We lose conferences scheduled for 2012-2013. The impact is now visible also on hotels of periphery”, Ananiadis added.
EXA-A president Yiannis Retsos noted that the year began very positively for Athens, with an increase of 5% in arrivals and 1.6% in revenue. However, recent events led to 8,000 cancellations in 20 city centre hotels, he stated.
He stressed that Athens –and Greece- could slide in the unsafe destinations list, which could be devastating for the entire Greek economy.
The hoteliers have already contacted Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos, asking for a package of measures to support the Athens hotels:
-Non-payment of real estate tax for 2012
-Deduction of insurance contributions
-Extension of the program of Manpower Employment Organization to maintain 10,000 hotel jobs with 40% subsidy to employers’ contributions
-Non-payment of a 0.6% levy in existing and new loans for a 12-month period
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