“It is necessary to create an organization to manage travel destination (D.M.O. Destination management organization) either in a local or super local level with successful product managers from the private sector, for the promotion, advertisement marketing strategy, a central problem in our tourism” stressed in a press conference to “In-On” magazine the president of the Hoteliers Association, Mr. Nikiforos Lambrinos.
For the support and development of the enterprises on tourism – he clarified – the on line presence of Crete is needed along with the introduction and appliance of new technologies. At the same time the continuation of studies and research in the field of Tourism is top priority as the ones conducted by the School of Polytechnics of Crete and the creation of a reliable data of statistics.
Question: Which are the Association’s plans to support enterprises because of the economical crisis?
Answer: The economic crisis that has overwhelmed the economies all over the globe even though it started as credit recession, it was developed as a liquidity crisis. No one doubts, therefore, that the current financial crisis is systematic. Tourism, this very industry of vacations, travel, journeys and free time, is the most promising branch of economy it has acquired a horizontal role because of the level of its interconnection and its impact on the social and economical network, being at the same time the creator of income, employment and regional development.
And since Greece and Crete are constantly developed in places that provide services, tourism is de facto a main factor of collective welfare and it is natural for the government to agree on tourism support through a set of measures. These positive measures come from relevant proposals in the sector of tourism; they were examined from the perspective of the relation of cost and benefit and reinforce liquidity, competitiveness and maintenance of jobs. The final aim is of top priority, since one in every five Greeks is occupied either directly or indirectly with tourism, which along with shipping supports the great net loss in the external account balance constituting the mirror of competitiveness in every country. In cases, therefore, of international monetary crisis, it is logical for the government to support the sector that offers the added advantage to the economy, is exposed to a ruthless international competition, while it is the sector that more directly, faster and more efficiently than any other, can operate and “warm up” economy. Thus, in this momentum, Tourism constitutes a “barometer” factor that estimates the consequences of the monetary crisis in the Greek economy.
The main target in this year’s negative coincidence is the minimization of the loss by examining every source of the cost, through the rationalization of the expenses and costs, focused offers and discounts, but not discounts in the quality of the services provided. The viability of Hotel Businesses and the maintenance of jobs is a very credible achievement, a riddle, actually, for strong opponents, when the wages and salary costs and in particular the non-wage costs, constitute the 50% and more of the turnover for more Hotel Units.
As it was proved in the recent extraordinary meeting of hotel owners, the blight upon Tourism will be more intense in terms of turnover (overturn) and less in the sought after arrivals because, especially this year the prices are subjected to special discounts and offers.
It is suggested, therefore, the completion of the already taken measures on Tourism, by the extension of the employment benefit during June, September and October, since during April most accommodation units did not operate, while in May vacancies were enough. Regarding, we can refer to “the lost honor of Greek Tourism”. Insisting on lavish price reductions, competitiveness is placed in a faulty level, the quality of services is negatively influenced, while trapping future touristic periods. Crete should not fall to the logic of the cheap prices that our antagonists offer on the East side of the Mediterranean, who do not belong to the euro-zone, though and have law operating costs, offering the same core product of sun and sea. We should not be competitive based on the cost, but only based on the quality of the provided services. From a different perspective, we are intensively puzzled by the early shrinkage of the touristic period and the “early fatigue” of our big traditional markets of Great Britain and Germany.
Another section that needs consistent, lasting and not occasional policy on behalf of individual businesspeople and the state is the significant market of internal tourism, which constitutes the 25% of the overturn of tourism, whose proceeds are not an extra income for the country; however they contribute to the income redistribution inside the country. Actually, our suggestion is the Greeks should relish the same services, the same prices (wholesale or through an agency) as the foreigners do and even more, the hotels should guarantee the best prices (best price guarantee) to Greek travelers given to customers either in Greece or abroad. Yet, a great issue still remains, which deals with the fragmentation of the national holidays in August.
Question: What has been planned for 2010?
Answer: A pre-evaluation for 2010 is extremely difficult, but definitely this is a hard year, too that requires preparation for complementary measures to support tourism, since the crisis of 2009 has been fully estimated. The monetary crisis will pass off some time and improvement will come, the problems, however, of the general public substructure are everlasting. Undoubtedly, the hotel sector in Greece is characterized by over-supply and a low level of bed usage due to the seasonal qualities that are attributed to our tourism, while the existence of a great deal of old units lowers the quality standards compared to our antagonists.
This sort of underemployment in the hotel units causes a low influx of money, a fact that progressively influences the realization of investments in the field of hotel businesses. Beyond all this, what is required is the creation of a destination management organization D.M.O. either in a local or super local level staffed with successful product managers from the private sector, so as to promote, advertise and provide marketing strategies, a core problem in our tourism. The on line presence of Crete is needed along with the introduction and appliance of new technologies. We are in the era of «net-working or not-working». At the same time the continuation of studies and research in the field of Tourism is top priority as the ones conducted by the School of Polytechnics of Crete and the creation of a reliable data of statistics.
It also becomes essential to create a pre-graduate department for the Design and Administration of Tourism in the University of Crete, within the framework of the higher education system of our country in order to reinforce competition. A complete study on viability is already in the Ministry of Education.
Question: What is the influence of the environment in the enterprises of the field?
Answer: It is commonly-known and widely-accepted that the raw materials of the product of tourism are the civilization and the environment in all its forms: natural, cultural, human-made or structural. Our Association in coordination with Π.Ο.Ξ. and Σ.Ε.Τ.Ε. introduces the reinforcement of a point system from the Developmental Law for those hotels that use environmentally-friendly technologies and do not waste energy. Well, “Green” hotels, “green” rooms, in terms of a “green” economy and “green” enterprising. Crete still has a big tourist supply along with cultural deposits and high quality hotel units that provide surplus-value in the land property of the relevant tourist destinations.
The issue of the deterioration of the natural environment is of grave importance namely the slopes, mountains and ridges due to the construction without a housing project, a not formal urbanization with a substantial refutation of the levels of differentiation concerning housing projects. The Cretan landscapes resemble natural paintings, an embroidered carpet, and the labor of many generations.
It is Crete’s ambition to lead and not merely to watch the developments and the changes in the international world of tourism and more importantly to make known its uniqueness and differentiation compared to its antagonists and if needed to make it look so in order Crete to become the ultimate tourists’ destination, the nutrient provider of Europe.
For that reason, through communicative strategies a portfolio regarding products and geography has to be realized, diffusing tourism in terms of space and time, a product that could either constitute by itself a reason to visit the island or to cover life style needs with a personal advertising character so as to appeal to the mind averseness of the candidate visitors, in a framework of a completed protected environment.
Question: What are the economic statistical data for the progress of the companies and predictions?
Answer: In June 2009 in the airport of Herakleion a fall of 12% is already recorded regarding the arrivals compared to June 2008. However, what is alarming is the fact that the reservations of June-August have not “locked” yet at the level of 90% – 100% that occurred every year, the loss regarding the profits will be multiple. For that reason the issue is not merely of reduced investments, but the damage and the viability of the companies. Arrivals, then, are fairly disappointing. If we take into consideration that tourism economy corresponds to almost 17% of the ΑΕΠ, then National Economy will bear losses around 2% of the gross National Income-Product.
Crete has the 21% of the beds of Greece, with a possibility of 151.677 beds according to the files of Ε.Ο.Τ. in 2008. Herakleion Prefecture has 64.567 beds, distributed to 11.926 five-star, 23.907 four-star, 10.749 three-star, 12.172 two-star and 5.813 one-star. Therefore, this summer will decide upon the competitiveness of Greek Tourism and to what extend our country and Crete can be categorized as relatively inelastic destinations.
Tourism functions as a “Barometer” for the economic crisis
