Impact Of The Economic Crisis On Greek Tourism

Impact Of The Economic Crisis On classical Tourism goldbrick The on-line(prenominal) stinting crisis has had a large effect on Greece. both of the intimately great scotchal fields, touristry and fare, were seriously affect. This resulted in change magnitude poverty and political instability. This paper focuses on describing the impact of scotch crisis on classical touristry. Therefore, the phrase presents the relationship between touristry and sparing topics, opus emphasizing the role of the European Union in rubbish the Grecian debt crisis. The unimaginative part of the paper presents the results of an online survey regarding Greeces financial problems and tourism sector attractiveness. The survey includes Romanian respondents who rush visited Greece at least(prenominal) once. Results of the landing field shew that most Romanians will continue to kick the bucket to Greece despite republics economic problems. Thus, the clause offers relevant support in d etermining the impact of economic crisis on Greek tourism. Moreover, the article underlines tourism sector importance and encourages further research.JEL potpourri G01, H12, L83Key words economic crisis tourism Greek debt crisis holidaymaker arrivals Romania1. installationTourism accounts for virtually 20% of Greek gross domestic ingathering and almost 17.5 million tourists visit Greece each year. However, the current recession knock against Greece very strong. The violent protests and strikes in Athens, as come up as the declining euro have determined numerous tourists to change their travel destination. Nowadays, Greece faces serious debts, increasing unemployment straddle and a country image that is slowly deteriorating. In this paper, the author seeks to emphasize the impact of the economic crisis on Greek tourism. Thus, the article get winds the evolution of playing area statistical indicators regarding Greek tourism during 2008-2010 and analyses Romanian prefere nces for Greek destinations in generation of economic spill. Therefore, the author carried out a survey among Romanian universe of discourse during January-February 2011, to provide relevant information about tourism in Greece. Results of the study show that Greek tourism remains in the top preferences of travel destinations for 2011. The reasons regard Romanians belief that Greece is a safe country despite the electronegative frugal context and the cheap travel packages that Greeks offer in order to attract tourists. To conclude, the article presents an in-depth review on an important economic issue while providing significant support to institutions and associations oriented towards tourism in general.2. Greek tourism during the economic crisisAccording to the Greek National Statistical Service, Greece is among the front 15 travel destinations in the world and the second most visited country in Europe. More than 9000 hotels and 400 campsites accommodate international and dome stic visitors every year.The economic downturn started in 2008, caused significant losses in Greek tourism and hotel industry. The situation got worse in 2009, when the Institute for Tourist inquiry and Forecasts announced that Greece was down 20% from 2008. However, the significant drop in tourist arrivals was not entirely due to Greeces debt crisis. Countries worldwide were facing serious economic problems and, as the unemployment rates were rapidly increasing, more people decided to accede their vacations (Conrady, 2010). In promoting travel packages, many public institutions tried to encourage tourism among consumers through marketing campaigns (Serban, 2011).Realizing the importance of maintaining the cash flows in tourism, the Greek judicature dropped prices and do the country less expensive for international visitors. Still, strikes by Greek workers and frequent protests have disrupted travel plans for many people, making them see their travel to Greece.Greek government main priority is to keep the crisis to begin with economic and encourage the development of tourism and shipping, two of the most important sectors of the economy.According to the report Greece Second Review Under the Stand-by Arrangement issued by the International Monetary Fund in December 2010, Greece is still fighting the debt crisis, though some economic sectors have shown signs of slow recruity. contrive 1 presents the evolution of tourism and shipping sector in Greece, during the economic crisis. The shipping sector experienced a downturn in 2009 but managed to recover very well by July 2010. Tourism, however, hardly registered positive values during the menses 2008-2010.Source Bank of Greece picture no. 1 Evolution of tourism and shipping in Greece during January 2008 July 2010Recent statistics on tourism provided by the European Travel Commission in the report European Tourism in 2010 Trends and Prospects, Quarterly Report (Q4/2010) show that Greece has registered low rates both in foreign visits and hotel occupancy ( interpret 2 and figure 3).Source TourMIS, ETC,*Date varies by destinationFigure no. 2 Foreign visits to selected destinations, 2010As regards foreign visits, Greece has experienced low rates in the last quarter of 2010 almost 2%. Aside from the economic crisis, another reason could be countrys predilection towards summer tourism. The hotel occupancy rates registered negative values almost -5%, irrelevant most of the European countries.Source STR GlobalFigure no. 3 Hotel occupancy rates in different countries, 20103. Study among romanians regarding the impact of the economic crisis on greek tourism3.1 PurposeThe purpose of this study is to describe the extent to which the economic crisis in Greece has changed Romanians perceptions about locomotion to this country.3.2 MethodologyThe study was based on a survey conducted in January-February 2011. The survey include a self-administrated questionnaire and was considered valid scarc ely for respondents which have traveled to Greece at least once. The objective was to determine the probability of returning on vacation in this country given the rigid economical context.The study included a total sample of 67 respondents, out of which 15 respondents were eliminated because of incomplete responses or not having passed the filter question. Therefore, a final sample of 52 respondents was considered in the final research.Respondents were selected by using the random sampling method.The questionnaire was applied in public places universities, shopping malls, hypermarkets. The questionnaire included one filter question (How many times did you travel to Greece?), 5 questions related to the topic and 4 socio-demographic questions related to age, sex of respondent, level of education and occupation. The questions were structured and closed, with one-choice answer.3.3 AnalysesIn analyzing the answers, the completed questionnaires were at first validated. The first question included a filter in order to separate the respondents who have traveled to Greece before from the ones who had never been to Greece (figure 4). Therefore, just now 52 questionnaires were considered valid.The answers to the first question showed that most respondents traveled to Greece at least once in their life more than 48% of respondents agreed. The second cream was less than 3 times in their life (36%), while only 15% of respondents admitted to have visited Greece more than 3 times in their life.Figure no. 4 Frequency of travel to Greece among RomaniansThe second question expound the types of tourism one can discern from while change of location to Greece. though Greece is not a big country, it holds great historical landmarks, various landforms and sightly ghostlike sites.Figure 5 shows that most Romanians prefer going to Greece during the summer -30% of respondents agreed. However, a considerable number of respondents prefer Greece for its culture (17%), while others for its religious sites (19%).Figure no. 5 Romanian preferences regarding Greek tourismFigure 6 shows the reasons for which most respondents choose to travel to Greece. The most important performer is beautiful sightseeing 25% of respondents answered this way. Other important factors were cultural attractions, conk out accommodation and similar prices to Romania.Figure no. 6 Description of reasons for traveling to GreeceIn addressing the economic crisis issue, the questionnaire included 3 questions. The first question depict the impact of the Greek debt crisis on countrys tourism. As figure 7 shows, most Romanians consider that the economic crisis had a great influence on Greeces tourism more than 73% of respondents agreed. 2 respondents considered the impact to be low, while 13 respondents said the impact was medium.Figure no. 7 Impact of the economic crisis on Greek tourismThe answers to the following questions were grouped and presented in figure 8. As a result, Romanians co nsider going to Greece in spite of the economic crisis (77%). Most respondents agree that the tourism sector was not seriously affected by the economic context and recent travel packages offers have made the country more attractive.Figure no. 8 Description of reasons for traveling to Greece during the economic crisisMoreover, Greece holds second position among the top foreign travel destinations for Romanians. a languish with Bulgaria and Turkey, Greece is considered to be a perfect country to spend summer vacations.The reasons for which Romanians choose Greece in times of economic crisis are cheaper accommodation (34%), special offers pension trips, extra-meals or airport taxes included (25%), promotional flight prices and lower come in fees for cruise ships.5. ConclusionsIn this paper, the author presented some important aspects of the economic crisis in Greece. Thus, the article described the relationship between the tourism sector and the economical context in Greece as well a s their relevance to the consumer.The practical part of the paper presented the results of a survey among Romanian consumers regarding Greeces economic decline and its impact on tourism. Results showed that Greeces approach for 2010 continue to reduce prices and increase the character of services was successful among Romanians. Moreover, travel agencies in both countries indicated that the number of Romanians who call off their holiday to Greece because of the protests in Athens was considerable small compared to those who chose to travel to Greece in the same period. Better travel packages and a strong belief in the national safety of the country convinced many Romanians to travel to Greece in spite of the demonstrations.Another advantage of Greece in these difficult times is citizens long experience in tourism. Greece stands for tradition and culture and its values are well preserved by the population. In attracting tourists, Greeks show respect to their guests and, above all, hospitality. altogether these things, make the Greeces debt crisis less dramatic for the Romanian consumers.By analyzing the case of Greece, the article presents some important view-points regarding the economic crisis in Europe. The information provided reflects the amplitude of the economic crisis worldwide and its rapid spread in most areas of activity. The focus on Greek tourism and its relationship with Romania can offer specialized associations a starting point in further analyzing Romanian tourism and the current tourism strategies.