ATHENS – The president of the Hellenic Federation of Hoteliers Grigoris Tassios said that the New Year is expected to be full of challenges while reviewing the year 2019 which was marked by the Thomas Cook bankruptcy.

Speaking to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency last week, he said that “2019 was a year of correction, there were destinations that did well, especially the islands and in particular the southern Aegean, while the mainland did not have the same occupancy rates. The Thomas Cook bankruptcy brought some economic level reversals. The tourism sector is expecting a different approach from the government in terms of our standing requests” Tassios said.

“I would say that Greece has entered a stability period during the last few years in regard to the tourist arrivals; however, ‘short letting’ (short term rentals) have brought a huge reversal in the market and that’s why we see many arrivals but not the equivalent overnight stays. We are waiting to see the framework on this sector in January.”

Referring to 2020, he said that it is expected to be a year with many challenges. “There is the geopolitical factor. Turkey wants many tourists and Cyprus does as well. At the same time, we see the UK returning to the market despite the Brexit. On the other hand, Germany is in a ‘hypnosis’ as we have a long way to cover to restore the damage that brought Thomas Cook’ bankruptcy” added Tassios.