Hoteliers in Greece are cutting their prices by up to 40 per cent in order to breathe life back into the country’s flagging tourist industry. (Featured image is by archer10)
George Geogidakis, managing director of John & George Group which has two hotels on the Greek mainland, said hotels have had prices cut by 15 per cent.
“This hasn’t been easy because at the same time our costs are up 25%. This means that hotels have to cut something, the staff or the service. Something has to go from the breakfast or the dinner, it’s a difficult balancing act,” he said.
Angela Kokolaki of Helios Hotels, which has seven upmarket properties across Greece, also argued that rack rates for last-minute non-refundable deals have had to be slashed by up to 40 per cent.
“Everybody across Greece has had to reduce their rack rate by at least 10 per cent this year and on top of that there are special offers, but we are still making money on food and beverages,” she said.
“If we can get people to Greece, we can get them to spend once they are here and we are still able to make a profit.”
Although Greece’s tourism minister, Olga Kefalogianni, argued that visitor numbers are likely to have increased from 2011 levels, hotel owners have said that the debt-laden country still has work to do in order to restore its image after a raft of negative stories regarding the country’s economic woes.
“What we need is to stop these negative stories in the media. All the news about Greece means we have lost a year’s business for nothing,” added Mr Geogidakis.
“The situation in Greece, for tourists, is fine and we need people to come to Greece to see that what they are reading in the papers isn’t true, to see for themselves that everything is normal in Greece, then people will come back to Greece.”
Greece is launching its first above-the-line marketing campaign since the financial crisis began in 2008 in an effort to regain its position as a top five destination.
