Our Greek correspondent Emma Gavala brings us up to speed on what is happening in Greece due to the COVID-19 situation.
All hospitality businesses are totally shut down – in fact we were very, very early to get into total lockdown. There is no mention of when and if hotels/glamping sites could open again and everything is frozen. Most people think this tourist season will be totally lost, no hires, no repayment of loans, nothing moves.
Greece’s tourism is core to our GDP, accounting around 11% of it. This means that the industry being hit is probably the most worrying aspect of the Greek economy as tons of people depend on seasonal jobs and tons of businesses depend too on the tourist season to survive.
An added problem is Greece’s target groups. The core repeat travel segment of various destinations comprises of British and Italian tourists who, for obvious reasons, will most likely not be able to travel.
Interestingly from my own contacts, it seems that people have totally cancelled plans for May, partially for June but are still holding on to their July-August-September plans. This might be a sign of (maybe false) optimism on Brits’ side too. But if we adopt a Sweden-style model of more chilled measures in the medium-run, this might prove to be a good thing.
Hospitality professionals are of course very worried how they would disinfect their sites/rooms in case they receive guests…
The only flights taking place are within Greek destinations – nothing from abroad. Aegean airlines has stopped all flights everywhere, beyond a weekly flight to Brussels, a further blow to tourism.
We have the classic problem of people rushing to the countryside with the potential risk of infecting locals. This is a major reason why glamping, nature, alternative tourism cannot function under these circumstances.
Our rural health system is horribly outdated and the vast majority of local residents in villages and areas of natural beauty are very elderly people. This includes the locations of our few glamping sites. These places can barely accommodate basic health needs, let alone a corona virus outbreak.
That is why in Greece, we see entire villages in isolation, imposed and strictly controlled by the government (much like northern Italy).
In my opinion, given the location of glamping sites, it would be a suicidal mission opening them up, given the very vulnerable people in these communities.
The tourism ministry will introduce a regulation which will offer to tourist businesses the opportunity to compensate their clients with an 18-month voucher, aiming at the support of hotels and travel agencies.
Practically, this means that someone who has made a booking, for example, during the Easter break, will not get a cash refund but compensation in the form of a voucher of equal value, lasting for 18 months, which can then be used for another trip at a later date, possibly even to a different destination, via the same travel agent or the same tourist enterprise. (https://www.thenationalherald.com/296495/greek-tourism-ministry-to-introduce-18-month-voucher-to-support-hotels-and-travel-agencies/)
One piece of good news: The ministry and industry stakeholders have made this lovely campaign https://www.greecefromhome.com/, headed by Steve Vranakis (Ex googler and currently Chief creative officer for Greece) enticing global audiences to virtually engage with Greece while in lockdown. A very smart way indeed to keep audiences engaged and something I haven’t seen in other countries. I think it’s really worth mentioning.
In other good news, Legislation about Glamping developments in Greece is advancing. The suggested law for glamping was placed under ‘public scrutiny’ (a process we follow here during which citizens can make comments and suggest amendments before it becomes a proper law). The corona situation has delayed the law passing from parliament though so we are stuck on this front but good to go I guess once the crisis stops. We will bring you more in a future article when it is finalised.
