ATHENS — The Greek hospitality sector is a cornerstone of economic growth and absorbs a significant part of the country's workforce, as well as being a sector with a high ability to cope with the economic repercussions of crises, both systemic and otherwise, and to respond with a rapid recovery to situations involving external changes, a survey by Grant Thornton on the "Strategic importance of Hospitality in Greece" said on Monday. The survey, conducted for the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, was presented during an online news conference.

The analysis showed that the benefits of the hospitality sector in Greece were spread among 17 branches of economic activity and nine sectors with an average annual contribution of around 1.0 billion euros, simply from implementing investments for renovating hotel units. Investments in the sector records an average annual contribution to the economy of around 1.5 billion euros, while hospitality is the top sector in creating jobs (one in four job positions).

The survey showed that the hospitality sector managed to immediately deal with the economic losses of the crisis, reported an increase in turnover, it was one of the three sectors to record an increase in turnover during the crisis and managed to respond to the economic consequences of the crisis.