SETE chief expresses high hopes for tourism season
The year 2023 is on track to be better than 2022 for tourism, the president of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), Yiannis Retsos, said in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA).
He noted that this increase in the country’s tourism figures looked set to continue in the years to come, based on international trends.
According to Retsos, there is optimism that revenues from tourism could reach 18.2 billion euros in 2023, exceeding the record in 2019, something that would start to become apparent over the course of the year.
“Greece is capitalizing on the very strong brand it has built during the pandemic,” Retsos said, noting that it was the only Mediterranean country that opened its borders with complete success in 2020, showing that it could handle a serious crisis and becoming an example for other destinations.
The reputation for safety that Greece built at that time still follows the tourism sector at present, he said.
A key decision taken at that time, he noted, was to open the borders to Americans, making Athens airport a hub for all of Europe. This led to a vote of confidence from Americans, who “have returned to Greece and will keep coming for a long time,” Retsos told AMNA.
