Dissertation Greece: Tourism Performance During the Financial Crisis (2009

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Hellenic Open University

Master in Business Administration (MBA)

Dissertation Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009 – 2017)

Bournazou Eleni

Supervisor: Persefoni Polychronidou

Patras, Greece, July 2018

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Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009 – 2017)

Eleni Bournazou

Supervising Committee

Supervisor: Co-Supervisor: Persefoni Polychronidou Maria Mavri

Assistant Professor at Technological Assistant Professor of Quantitative Educational Institute of Central Methods at Department of Business Macedonia Administration of the University of the Aegean

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

Acknowledgments

After an intensive period of working in the mornings and writing till late in the night for my thesis, I would like to reflect on the people who have supported and helped me so much throughout the last months.

First of all I would like to thank my supervisor Ms. Persefoni Polychronidou for guiding me and insisting on submitting my thesis.

I would also like to thank Aris Boukoubis for his help, his patience and daily encouragement.

To the next achievement!

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments...... 0 List of Tables ...... 4 List of Figures ...... 5 Glossary ...... 6 Abstract ...... 8 Περίληψη ...... 9 Introduction ...... 10 1 Tourism as a product ...... 11 1.1 Definitions ...... 11 1.2 Historical Evolution...... 11 1.2.1 Worldwide ...... 11 1.2.2 Greece ...... 14 1.2.2.1 Ancient Greece ...... 14 1.2.2.2 Modern Greece ...... 14 2 Types of tourism and travel ...... 18 2.1 Adventure tourism ...... 19 2.1.1 Meaning ...... 19 2.1.2 Adventure Tourism Experiences ...... 19 2.1.3 Adventure Index ...... 20 2.1.4 Motivating Factors ...... 22 2.1.5 Activities...... 23 2.2 Cultural tourism ...... 23 2.2.1 Meaning ...... 23 2.2.2 Importance ...... 25 2.2.3 Three types of identity ...... 25 2.2.4 EU level ...... 27 2.3 Ecotourism ...... 29 2.3.1 Meaning ...... 29 2.3.2 A mechanism for sustainable development ...... 29 2.3.3 Cinque Terre: A sustainable tourism project ...... 31 0

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

2.4 Educational tourism ...... 32 2.4.1 Meaning ...... 32 2.4.2 Mobility ...... 34 2.4.3 Benefits ...... 34 2.4.4 EU level ...... 36 2.5 Health / Medical tourism ...... 38 2.5.1 Meaning ...... 38 2.5.2 Top destinations...... 39 2.5.3 Economic impact ...... 39 2.5.4 EU medical tourism ...... 40 2.5.5 Medical Tourism Index ...... 43 2.6 Geotourism ...... 44 2.6.1 Meaning ...... 44 2.6.2 Benefits of Geotourism ...... 45 2.6.3 How to support Geotourism ...... 45 2.6.4 Greece: The geological wonders ...... 46 2.6.5 Arouca declaration ...... 46 2.7 Industrial tourism...... 47 2.7.1 Meaning ...... 47 2.7.2 Examples ...... 48 2.7.3 Impact of Industrial Tourism ...... 48 2.8 Religious tourism...... 48 2.8.1 Meaning ...... 48 2.8.2 Description ...... 49 2.8.3 Traveler profile ...... 49 2.9 Rural tourism / Agrotourism ...... 50 2.9.1 Meaning ...... 50 2.9.2 Main focus and description ...... 50 2.9.3 Travelers’ profile ...... 52 2.10 Sex tourism ...... 54 2.10.1 Meaning ...... 54 2.10.2 Sex tourists ...... 54 2.10.3 Impact of sex tourism ...... 55 2.11 Space tourism ...... 55 1

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

2.11.1 Meaning ...... 55 2.11.2 Trends ...... 55 2.12 Sports Tourism ...... 57 2.12.1 Meaning ...... 57 2.12.2 Benefits of sports tourism ...... 57 2.12.3 Big sport events 2018 ...... 58 2.13 Virtual tourism ...... 59 2.13.1 Meaning ...... 59 2.13.1 Trends ...... 59 2.14 Atomic tourism ...... 60 2.14.1 Meaning ...... 60 2.14.2 Destinations ...... 61 3 Competitiveness measures in tourism ...... 62 3.1 Categories of indicators ...... 63 3.1.1 Tourism performance & impact ...... 63 3.1.2 Destination’s ability to offer quality and competitive tourism services ...... 63 3.1.3 Attractiveness of a destination ...... 63 3.1.4 Policy responses and economic opportunities description ...... 64 3.2 The Indicators ...... 65 4 Tourism volume globally ...... 68 4.1 Direct contribution to GDP ...... 68 4.2 Recent Key Facts ...... 69 4.2.1 GDP: Direct contribution ...... 69 4.2.2 GDP: Total contribution ...... 70 4.2.3 Employment: Direct contribution ...... 72 4.2.4 Employment: Total contribution ...... 73 4.2.5 Visitor Exports...... 73 4.2.6 Investment ...... 73 5 Tourism’s impact in Greece ...... 75 5.1 Recent Key Facts ...... 75 5.1.1 Direct Contribution to GDP ...... 75 5.1.2 Total contribution to Employment ...... 76 5.1.3 Arrivals - International ...... 77 5.1.4 Revenues - International / Domestic ...... 78 2

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

5.2 Domestic tourism...... 80 6 Greek macros, tourism policy and geopolitical events ...... 82 6.1 Macros impacting tourism: Greek figures 2000-2017 ...... 82 6.1.1 GDP per capita ...... 82 6.1.2 Foreign Direct Investments ...... 83 6.1.3 Unemployment ...... 87 6.1.4 Consumer Price Index ...... 88 6.1.5 Annual Wages ...... 90 6.1.6 Oil Prices ...... 94 6.2 Greek Tourism Policy...... 95 6.3 Geopolitical events ...... 96 7 Greece vs. Mediterranean peers ...... 99 7.1 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index ...... 99 7.2 Greece ...... 102 7.3 Spain ...... 102 7.4 France ...... 103 7.5 Italy 103 7.6 Egypt ...... 104 7.7 Turkey ...... 104 8 Conclusion ...... 106 Bibliography ...... 107

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

List of Tables

Table 1. 1 - List of World Heritage Monuments, Cultural Monuments ...... 16 Table 1. 2 - List of World Heritage Monuments, Mixed ...... 16

Table 2. 1 - 10 pillars of Adventure Market Competitiveness ...... 20 Table 2. 2 - Examples of religious tourism activities ...... 49 Table 2. 3 - Examples of rural accommodation, activities and attractions ...... 52

Table 3. 1 - Key elements defining competitiveness in tourism ...... 64 Table 3. 2 - List of Core, Supplementary and Future Development Indicators ...... 66

Table 5. 1 – Domestic tourism data of journeys with at least 4 overnight stays ...... 80

Table 6. 1 - Final consumption expenditure of households by consumption purpose . 93

Table 7. 1 - Mediterranean countries rankings 2017 (A) ...... 101 Table 7. 2 - Mediterranean countries rankings 2017 (B) ...... 101

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

List of Figures

Figure 1. 1 - Line Chart of International tourism, number of departures ...... 13

Figure 2. 1 - Educational tourism combination of both tourism and education ...... 33 Figure 2. 2 - Net Impact per student (UK economy) ...... 35 Figure 2. 3 - EU country ranking 2018-attractivity to international students ...... 38

Figure 4. 1 - Bar Chart of GDP Total Contribution breakdown ...... 71 Figure 4. 2 - Waterfall Chart of GDP Total Contribution 2017...... 72 Figure 4. 3 - Bar Chart of capital investment actual figures and forecasts ...... 74

Figure 5. 1 - Column Chart of contribution to GDP ...... 76 Figure 5. 2 - Column Chart of total contribution to employment ...... 77 Figure 5. 3 - Column Chart of International Tourist Arrivals ...... 78 Figure 5. 4 - Column Chart of Revenues from International Tourism ...... 79 Figure 5. 5 - Map of tourism revenues by region in Greece 2017 ...... 80 Figure 5. 6 - Purpose of personal trip (2015) ...... 81

Figure 6. 1 - Column Chart of GDP per capita ...... 83 Figure 6. 2 - Column Chart of FDΙs in Greece by country ...... 84 Figure 6. 3 - Column Chart of Foreign Direct Investment in Greece by sector of economic activity ...... 86 Figure 6. 4 - Column Chart of FDI per country group (2001-2016 average) ...... 87 Figure 6. 5 - Column Chart of Unemployment rate evolution ...... 88 Figure 6. 6 - Column Chart of Consumer Price Index ...... 90 Figure 6. 7 - Column Chart of Average annual wages evolution in Greece ...... 91 Figure 6. 8 - Column Chart of Minimum wages by country, January 2018 ...... 92 Figure 6. 9 - Column Chart of average price of Crude oil ...... 94 Figure 6. 10 - Line Chart of political events and demand trends in selected cities globally ...... 98

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

Glossary

Abbreviation Explanation ATDI Adventure Tourism Development Index ADR Average Daily Rate AMC Adventure Market Competitiveness ATTA Adventure Travel Trade Association BOAT Bureau of Atomic Tourism BtB Business-to-Business BtC Business-to-Customer c. circa CAA Civil Aviation Authority CAGR Compounded Average Growth Rate CCI Consumer Confidence Index CCIs Cultural and Creative Industries CEHS Consumer Expenditure on Hospital Services CLUI Center for Land Use Interpretation CLUI Center for Land Use Interpretation CoE Council of Europe CPI Consumer Price Index EAP Economic Adjustment Program EC European Commission ECB European Central Bank ECR European Cultural Routes ECST European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas ELSTAT Hellenic Statistical Authority EMTM Erasmus Mundus European Master in Tourism Management ETC European Travel Commission F&B Food and Beverage Games Olympic Games GCI Global Competitiveness Index GDP Gross Domestic Product GNTO Greek National Tourism Organisation GSD Gruppo San Donato GSTC Global Sustainable Tourism Council ICT Information and Communication Technologies ILO International Labour Organisation IMF International Monetary Fund The tourism of non-resident visitors within the economic Inbound tourism territory of the country of reference ISS International Space Station ITEP Institute for Tourism Research and Forecasts International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural IUCN Resources MICE Meetings and Incentives 6

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

Abbreviation Explanation MSc Master of Science MTI Medical Tourism Index NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NGS National Geographic Society NHS National Health Service NRF National Retail Federation OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Outbound The tourism of resident visitors outside the economic territory of tourism the country of reference. pa per annum PPS Purchasing Power Standard RIS3 Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation RTDI Research, Technology Development and Innovation SARS Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome SETE Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises SNFCC Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center T&T Travel & Tourism TAAC Treatment Abroad Advisory Committee TGDP Tourism GDP TSA Tourism Satellite Account TSA Tourism Satellite Accounting TTCI Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index UAE United Arab Emirates UEHP European Union of Private Hospitals UN United Nations United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural UNESCO Organisation UNSD United Nations Statistics Division UNWTO United Nations World Tourism Organisation US United States of America V.A.T. Value Added Tax WEF World Economic Forum WHO World Health Organisation WHP World Heritage Program WHS World Heritage Site WWTC World Travel and Tourism Council YoY Year on Year

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

Abstract

Traditionally due to lack of technology enchantments and heavy industry production, Greece has relied in Tourism sector both in terms of revenue as well as in terms of natural recourses advantage. Through its geographic location is positioned ideally to be the linking part between the East and West, introducing this element mix in Greek culture as well.

This strong reliance in tourism sector has been both a blessing and a curse. The former due to the fact that in periods of recession tourism was a constant contributor of income for the country, and the latter because has developed a behavior, to both the state and private sector, that “sea and sun” would be sufficient to rely on perpetually, and thus would not be necessary to structure a clear strategy.

With the official commencement of economic crisis for Greece (since the first MoU signing in 2009) all sectors have been impacted deeply and the recession has been severe as a result of the extreme austerity measures and fiscal reforms implemented. This study tries to assess the immunity of Greek cornerstone, and to what extent has been affected.

To explore this potential impact, the data collected and metrics used have been extracted from the most reliable organisations worldwide that add value to the tourism product and analyze trends and behaviors.

The first set of indicators used rely on macro determinants of tourism and how these affect the Greek tourism market while the another metric is the most recent Travel and Tourism Competiveness Index, established by the World Economic Forum, since 2007, to rank more than 100 economies worldwide via a complex set to indicators.

Keywords

Tourism, inbound / outbound tourism, average revenue per visitor

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

Περίληψη

H Ελλάδα λόγω της περιορισμένης ανάπτυξης της βαριάς βιομηχανικής παραγωγής, έχει βασιστεί κυρίως στον τομέα του Τουρισμού τόσο από πλευράς εσόδων όσο και από πλευράς φυσικών πόρων. Λόγω γεωγραφικής θέσης η χώρα αποτελεί σταυροδρόμι μεταξύ Ανατολής και Δύσης, και έχει καταφέρει να ενσωματώσει αυτό το μίγμα των στοιχείων των δύο πολιτισμών, στον ελληνικό πολιτισμό.

Αυτή η ισχυρή εξάρτηση της οικονομίας από τον τομέα του τουρισμού υπήρξε ευχή και κατάρα. Ευχή για το γεγονός ότι σε περιόδους ύφεσης της οικονομίας, ο τουρισμός ήταν ένας σταθερός εισοδηματικός παράγοντας για τη χώρα και κατάρα λόγω του ότι καλλιεργήθηκε η εντύπωση, τόσο στον κρατικό όσο και στον ιδιωτικό τομέα, ότι η «θάλασσα και ο ήλιος» θα αρκούσε για να στηρίζεται συνεχώς, και επομένως δεν θα ήταν αναγκαία η διαμόρφωση μιας σαφούς δομημένης στρατηγικής.

Με την επίσημη έναρξη της οικονομικής κρίσης στην Ελλάδα (από την υπογραφή του πρώτου Μνημονίου το 2009), όλοι οι τομείς επηρεάστηκαν βαθιά και η ύφεση που επήλθε ήταν σοβαρή λόγω των εξαιρετικών μέτρων λιτότητας και των δημοσιονομικών μεταρρυθμίσεων που εφαρμόστηκαν. Αυτή η διπλωματική εργασία προσπαθεί να αξιολογήσει την «ασυλία» του τομέα του τουρισμού που αποτελεί τον ελληνικό ακρογωνιαίο λίθο της οικονομίας και σε ποιο βαθμό ο τομέας αυτός έχει επηρεαστεί.

Για να διερευνηθεί αυτός ο δυνητικός αντίκτυπος στον τομέα του τουρισμού, συλλέχθηκαν δεδομένα και μετρήσεις που έχουν εξαχθεί από τους παγκοσμίως πλέον πιο αξιόπιστους οργανισμούς οι οποίοι προσθέτουν αξία στο τουριστικό προϊόν και αναλύουν τάσεις και συμπεριφορές.

Το πρώτο σύνολο δεικτών που χρησιμοποιούνται εξαρτάται από τους μακροοικονομικούς παράγοντες του τουρισμού και τον τρόπο με τον οποίο αυτές επηρεάζουν την ελληνική τουριστική αγορά ενώ στη συνέχεια αναλύεται ο Δείκτης Ανταγωνιστικότητας Ταξιδιών και Τουρισμού που αναπτύχθηκε από το Παγκόσμιο Οικονομικό Φόρουμ από το έτος 2007 για να κατατάξει περισσότερες από 100 οικονομίες παγκοσμίως σύμφωνα με έναν πιο σύνθετο δείκτη.

Λέξεις – Κλειδιά: Τουρισμός, εισερχόμενος/εξερχόμενος τουρισμός, μέσο έσοδο ανά επισκέπτη 9

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

Introduction

The Scope of Work (“SoW”) of this dissertation is to study the performance of tourism industry in Greece for the period 2009 – 2017, i.e. the “official” economic crisis period, since the signing of the MoU when Greece entered into an agreement with International Monetary Fund (“IMF”), European Commission (“EC”) and European Union (“EU”).

The global economic crisis has impacted directly employment, disposable income, the living of numerous groups, along with the ability of households to cope with such shocks. The above mentioned factors are directly correlated with tourism as the capability of travelling and spending is significantly diminished. This assessment aims to provide more insight into these facts that how have resulted in Greek tourism demand during the above mentioned period.

Newborn measures that can capture more effectively quantitative and qualitative criteria of tourism’s stimulus have been introduced by World Travel and Tourism Council (“WWTC”) and by other organisations. Although young and underdeveloped these metrics may well prove beneficial despite the lack of time series data.

To reach a conclusion in our case we shall present the tourism phenomenon historically, globally and in Greece to comprehend its evolution, provide a definition, and see how the fundamentals to compare the Key Performance Indicators (“KPIs”) and metrics applied in tourism industry to measure the competitiveness among other countries.

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

1 Tourism as a product

1.1 Definitions

Before starting quantifying and comparing the economic benefit of tourism it would be useful to define some notions first.

Tourism is: “a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes. These people are called visitors (which may be either tourists or excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism has to do with their activities, some of which imply tourism expenditure” (United Nations World Tourism Organisation, 2009c).

Tourists are: “people who travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited” (United Nations World Tourism Organisation, 2009c).

Tourism industries: “include the provision of accommodation for visitors (tourists and same day visitors), food and beverage serving activities, passenger transportation, travel agencies and other reservation service activities, cultural activities, sports and recreational activities, as well as other country specific activities” (United Nations World Tourism Organisation, 2011).

Having done that, is easier to digest the main drivers that determine when people choose to travel more and which of the services provided add value to them and increase their spending.

1.2 Historical Evolution

1.2.1 Worldwide

Leisure travelling has developed from an experience for the rich into an affordable experience to almost everyone. Traveling was a privilege mainly for royals as well as 11

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

for the upper classes. Since early Roman period through 1600, high society young men were encouraged to live the travel experience in Europe on a “grand tour” (Chaney, 2000.)

The term “hospitality” precedes the use of the term “tourism”, which firstly appeared in 14th century. It has its roots in the Latin term “hospes”, including the words: “guest”, “host”, as well as “foreigner” (Oxford Dictionaries, 1982). The term “tourist” was firstly appeared in writing in 1772 (Griffiths, R & Griffiths, G, 1772) and “tourism” in 1811 (Online Etymology Dictionary, 2013). According to William Theobald the word “tour” is derived from Greek and Latin words for “circle” and “turn”, and that “tourism” and “tourist” represent the activities of leaving home for a short period home, and return after a while (Theobald, 1998).

The beginner of travel agency was the famous “Cox & Kings” in 1758. Its founder, Richard Cox became British’s Royal Armed Forces certified travel agent (Cox & Kings, n.d.). In 1841, the primary leisure travel agency was opened by Thomas Cook and aimed to change people’s lives by traveling all over the. In 1845, he introduced a pioneer packaged tour which included economic railway tickets as well as a complete printed guide (History, Thomas Cook Group of Companies, 2014).

Rail and automobile offered additional milestones in tourism evolution. The first commercial air flights from London to Johannesburg and Sri Lanka began in 1952 (Britannica, n.d.). Founding a travel company business flourished in the 60s increasing competitive tension for consumers and moved to “mass tourism, introducing new destinations and modes of holidaying” (Gyr, 2010).

Since ‘00s numerus negative issues such as the World Trade Center attack in New York (9/11), the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, apparent threats of future terrorist attacks, and health issues such as West Nile virus drove international travel volume to slow down for a 3year period and start to increase again after 2003. A 3.7% decline is realized YoY in 2008-2009 attributed to the financial crisis in US having as a trigger event the Lehman Brothers stop of operations.

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

Globally though the volume of departures has a constantly upward trend line (green line in Figure 1.1) and a CAGR of 104% for that period, while the only slowdowns have been on the 2002-2003 and 2008-2009 falling into the spectrum of significant events thus having a negative impact on these year ends. International outbound tourists are defined as the amount of departures from the home country to any other destination for any purpose excluding remunerated activities in destination country. Outbound tourists’ data denote the actual number of departures and not to the actual number of people who travel (Figure 1.1). Consequently, a frequent traveler is calculated every time as a new departure during the period under examination.

Figure 1. 1 - Line Chart of International tourism, number of departures

1,5 1,459

1,4

1,3

1,2

Billions Billions 1,1

1,0

0,9 0,8280 0,8 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Source: World Bank

Meanwhile, the enormous technological shift through internet use transformed travel services totally. Since 00’s online bookings for travel especially grew exponentially and by 2016 the agencies first appeared in late 90s had developed into business giants. Two of the most well-known sector leaders are Expedia group, which entered in stock market in 1999 (as Microsoft’s travel portal) and by 2016 reported revenues c. $8.8 billion (Expedia group, 2016) and Booking.com, established in 1996, and in 2005 was

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

acquired by the US-based listed group (former Priceline Group Inc.) Book Holdings, reporting agency revenues $7.9 billion in 2016 (Book Holdings, 2016).

1.2.2 Greece

1.2.2.1 Ancient Greece

Tourism in Greece has always been among the most competitive sectors of the economy contributing financially in the country. Its roots are placed in antiquity when visiting other cities was related to sports, religion and cultural or even medical reasons (ancient Greek monuments are included in Table 1.1 below).

Legendary places like Olympia, Delphi, Nemea and Isthmia were top sports tourism destinations, held high in visitors’ conscience either as participants or attendees for the famous games and athletic events hosted (Valavanis, 2017).

Olympia among other sanctuaries were also known for cultural and pilgrimage reasons. The visits were related to celebrations, dedicated to the Gods, or to mingle with thinkers, authors and philosophers, who frequently grasped this first class opportunity to demonstrate their work and spread ideas (Ladia & Giannikopoulos, 2003). Asclepeia were famous medical tourism destinations, widely known for their healing rituals, and very popular in visitors list. Asclepeia were dedicated to the God Asclepius and have been the first medical tourism network globally introduced by ancient Greeks (Edelstein, E & Edelstein, 1998).

1.2.2.2 Modern Greece

In modern Greece, the notion of tourism initiated its development after 1950, when the Greek National Tourism Organisation (“GNTO”) was reestablished. Greek tourism industry started to flourish, also due to the Xenia hotels construction program, a state imitative targeted into Greek economy reinforcement, in an attempt to recover after World War II. In this context the GNTO also launched a campaign of new tourist posters, recognizable worldwide even today.

Tourism is undoubtedly among Greek economy’s most important pillars due to its high level of direct contribution to GDP (18.6% in 2016) and employment (23.4% in 14

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

2016 or 860,315 jobs) (Travel and Tourism Economic Impact 2017, WTTC). The sector also helps to widen the country's trade deficit. A series of key international events boosted tourism after 2000. Those were the introduction of Euro as the country official currency, the Olympic Games in 2004, the Eurovision Song Contest winning award in 2005 resulting to host the event in 2006, the and the denomination of Thessaloniki as a Youth Capital in 2014. Tourism benefits also from significant infrastructure cultural projects, like the new Acropolis Museum, established in 2009 keeping international attention hot about the Parthenon marbles return,, and Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (“SNFCC”) designed by the famous architect Renzo Piano, completed in 2016.

Greece is a traditional tourist destination for its diverse island complexes, and for the numbers of monuments, museums, and nature and religious sites. Until recently Athens was mostly a hub for tourists wishing to visit the islands, as it serves the international airport, the port of Piraeus and the port of Rafina. A high percentage (c.70%) of the hotel capacity is concentrated in only four (4) areas (South Aegean Sea, Crete, Attica, and Ionian Sea) which show high concentration in few areas versus the underpeopled areas of the country (Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, 2016).

Lots of Greek sites are also included World Heritage Monuments list (see Table 1) of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (“UNESCO”). These sites are legally protected by international agreements and are considered of great importance because of their historical, cultural, scientific or other form of importance. The sites are considered important to the combined interests of humanity.

As for a World Heritage Site (“WHS”) to be selected, it should be a classified landmark already and it also has to be unique as far as its geography and its history are concerned. It should be an identifiable place that has a special physical or cultural importance (for instance ancient ruins or historical structures, buildings, cities, complexes, lakes, forest, desert, island, monument, mountain etc.).

This list is responsibility of the international World Heritage Program (“WHP”) managed by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and composed of 21 parties which have been designated by their General Assembly.

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

This initiative commenced from the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World's Cultural and Natural Heritage, and has been accepted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972. It is actually the most popular cultural program in the world which is widely recognized as 193 state parties have joined the convention since 1972.

Table 1. 1 - List of World Heritage Monuments, Cultural Monuments

Cultural Year of inscription Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae 1986 Acropolis, Athens 1987 Archaeological Site of Delphi 1987 Medieval City of Rhodes 1988 Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki 1988 Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus 1988 Archaeological Site of Mystras 1989 Archaeological Site of Olympia 1989 Delos 1990 Monasteries of Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios 1990 Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos 1992 Archaeological Site of Aigai (modern name Vergina) 1996 Archaeological Sites of Mycenae and Tiryns 1999 The Historic Centre (Chorá) with the Monastery of Saint-John the Theologian and the 1999 Cave of the Apocalypse on the Island of Pátmos Old Town of Corfu 2007 Archaeological Site of Philippi 2016 Source: World Heritage List, UNESCO

Table 1. 2 - List of World Heritage Monuments, Mixed

Mixed Year of inscription Meteora 1988 Mount Athos 1988 Source: World Heritage List, UNESCO

Greek State has made a remarkable effort to promote religious tourism, a rather of underdeveloped product in Greece. Monasteries in Meteora and Mount Athos aim to attract pilgrimages while GNTO is in the process of making those destinations known worldwide through cooperation with Russia. In order to reinforce religious tourism, a 16

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

Cooperation protocol for the development of pilgrimage tourism was signed between the Greek State and the Church in January 15th 2013 (Ecclesia, 2018). This agreement is comprised of various initiatives, joint and coordinated actions between the two parties. Among the steps taken to promote religious tourism, Archdiocese of Athens website was redesigned introducing specific modules being constantly updated, so as to provide a step by step guidance for visitors who seek assistance to make all the necessary arrangements.

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

2 Types of tourism and travel

Clustering tourism is an exercise first appeared in the paper “Fremdenverkehrsgeographie” (Poser, 1939). Poser identified numerous types of tourism by: winter sports, summer relaxation, transit, short distance relaxation. Later at “Outline of the General Teaching of Tourism” (Hunziker & Krapf, 1941), the authors, distinguished the types of tourism: travel for relaxation, religious reasons, and technical knowledge, etc. Finally, Jülg & Ruppert (1965) as well as Maier, (1970), concluded in six (6) different tourism types:

(a) Tourism recreation,

(b) Therapy,

(d) Reduced distance relaxation,

(e) Transit by tourism and

(f) Professional tourism.

The categories are not static, but dynamic, as various and new factors (e.g. technology) may modify them or introduce new ones. The styles of tourism are produced by the requirements of its objectives, the socio-cultural facilities level as well as the prevailing means of transport.

Basic elements of tourism are:

a. disposable income b. available time for leisure c. infrastructure for tourism, (i.e. accommodation and transport)

Through the universe of existing clusters below there is thorough analysis of the most common types of tourism used in everyday life and bibliography. Among the most common factors that create confusion are the subcategories of the alternative names and description.

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2.1 Adventure tourism

2.1.1 Meaning

Adventure tourism includes elements of exploration and real or even perceived risk. Adventure travels usually require special skills and physical effort. In the United States, adventure tourism is increasing very quickly as people prefer prototype or "roads less traveled" vacations. The definition of adventure tourism has not become clear yet so quite ambiguous to quantify the market size and growth of this specific sector. Based on the US based Adventure Travel Trade Association, Adventure tourism contains three characteristics for the traveler: (a) athletics, (b) nature and environment approach as well as (c) a fascinating cultural experience (Adventure Travel Trade Association, 2013).

It’s worth adding that experience of an adventure is differently perceived among people due to diverse degree of risk tolerance and adrenaline level. The term “adventure” is a rather relative notion which for some could just be camping outside in a tent and at the same time, for others this would be considered passive tourism, and a real adventurous experience would be to participate in risky and physically or emotionally demanding activities such as sky-diving or water rafting in a dangerous river.

Even for challenge seekers, the degree of challenge differs. Some people would flinch in the idea of undertaking a theoretically unsafe activity such as sky diving, and would find a tour in the forest challenging enough. Vice versa less adrenaline seekers would consider adrenaline addict’s experiences unpleasant, disturbing or even boring.

Therefore, a basic principle of adventure tourism is seeking something different.

2.1.2 Adventure Tourism Experiences

The motivation and strength associated with the term “adventure” correlate with the absence of everyday life routine. An exotic environment, different activities,

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experiences further than anything somebody has ever tried before contribute to a sense of escapism.

The term “Adventure Tourism” represents different types of experience, and a vast range of tourism situations. The common base is the participant’s sense of excitement and a less regulated environment.

2.1.3 Adventure Index

The Adventure Tourism Development Index (“ATDI”) lists the ranking of the countries regarding their potential for supporting sustainable adventure tourism.

ATDI's has identified ten (10) pillars of Adventure Market Competitiveness (“AMC”) which are the core values of market growth which benefit the communities, enjoy culture as well as aim to protect the environment (Table 2.1).

The annual report results in ranking the countries in each one of the ten pillars. Tour operators globally use this report as a tool to find out places where adventure tours can be developed. In order to annually monitor adventure market development goals, detailed analysis and results can be easily extracted from the before mentioned report. (Adventure Tourism Development Index, n.d.).

Table 2. 1 - 10 pillars of Adventure Market Competitiveness

No Pillar Description Government policies that care and adopt mainly sustainable and rural Government tourism growth are a very important pillar as they protect the natural, policies that heritage as well as the cultural environment and give an optimistic 1. support investment momentum for the private sector. sustainable As long as there is public and private sector coordination, the private development sector expands and attracts investments and development. This pillar examines in qualitative criteria whether adventure agents provide safety of tourists, as well as whether the existing facilities are 2. Safety associated with travel-related injuries. Some examples are a) In famous scuba diving destinations, are there sufficient facilities for

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No Pillar Description decompression? b) In mountaineering destinations, are there any rescue plans ready or are the travelling guides first aid trained? Natural The travelers require free and properly-managed natural resources. The 3. resources destinations that include rare natural resources, which are both well- managed and unexploited, are preferred among adventure travelers. Local population health is more probable to attract new businesses, and Health 4. manage its resources conscientiously. In countries with advanced

healthcare are better positioned to support the adventure travelers’ needs. Adventure sports cover a wide range of outdoor activities (from sky diving, bird watching, mountain climbing; paragliding). Adventure 5. The countries with committed resources to the development of a specific resources activity, e.g. ice climbing cliffs, can benefit from the market opportunity and gain a competitive advantage. In that market the strength originates from those innovative companies with uncommon offerings that may attract only a small subset of niche Entrepreneurs 6. markets. All the activities that were considered mainstream, or unusual to hip appeal to a wider adventure travel audience, may turn to mainstream activities: snowboarding popularity is a strong example. This pillar is correlated with human capital development in a destination - Humanitarian basic services offering such as sanitation and with the potential for 7. combined volunteer and adventure trips. The trend towards volunteerism appeals widely to adventure tourists and may continue to appeal. Adventure tourists are less vulnerable to lacks in infrastructure, but could be more sensitive in terms of maintenance and infrastructure for soft tourism.

Examples of this infrastructure include: Infrastructure (a) Infrastructure such as airports, roads, trails, lodging facilities; 8. (b) Soft infrastructure includes:  Trail maps  Accessibility to information (heritage & culture)  Ground operators  Training programs for adventure tourism (including guides/interpreters etc). Travelers in adventure are interested in learning about new cultures as Cultural 9. they like exploration. The ability to involve in local culture authentically resources is a desirable outcome for them. 21

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No Pillar Description

Countries that boost local culture preservation benefit with adventure tourists. A country's image is among the most significant features of market competitiveness. Image is also vital in guiding and influencing Adventure sustainable market development. Image 10. / Brand A destination's image for sustainability and adventure opportunity will attract travelers who value these aspects. Through their visitation and expenditures, these people will in turn further support the country's ongoing sustainable. Source: Adventure Tourism Development Index: An adventure travel scorecard, 2016 report

2.1.4 Motivating Factors

Tourists are motivated to take part in adventure tourism events for diverse reasons. Many people love the sense of expectation of a surprising result but this usually comes from their excitement to participate in an activity that includes the elements of unfamiliar and potential danger.

Hence it needs to be a rather challenging activity in order to be considered as an adventurous one. A challenging activity could consist of danger, unrespectable results and degree of difficulty. Different participants can be attracted by this challenge according to their prospects and their readiness to deal with challenges

Rewarding people after the completion of the activity is also very important. Not always something material but also the sense challenge accomplishment and self-push outside the comfort zone (an intrinsic reward). An extrinsic award could be possible, such as a trophy. For instance a medal in a hard race (e.g. of an action race is “Iron Man” triathlon race, Spartathlon race).

It is equally important the sense of distraction in order to consider an activity adventurous. This is the main reason with adventure tourism activities usually take

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place in nature. Though these travelers feel a true escape from normality. It is possible for somebody to experience something delicate, adrenalin rush or even a tranquility subsequent to this kind of experience.

2.1.5 Activities

Adventurous activities can be divided into the following categories:

 Physical: rock climbing, mountain-biking and hang gliding  Nature-based: forest strolling, birds photo shooting  Cultural: e.g. pilgrimages  Exploration: hiking, marine, mountain climbing

The undertakings mentioned above, depending on the kind of activity undertaken may differ in “adventure” rating terms. Directed botanical garden tours could be regarded as less adventurous versus camping in the Andes for instance.

Nature-based tourism can be included in both “ecotourism” and “adventure tourism”. The final type of tourism characterization is associated with the location that the activity takes place and on the degree of difficulty (ACS Distance Education, n.d.).

2.2 Cultural tourism

2.2.1 Meaning

This type of tourism alternatively is called heritage tourism deriving from people’s curiosity to meet different cultures in distant lands. Culture is among the basic factors of tourist attraction in a destination. This kind of tourism provides insight to:  People’s everyday life e  Architecture, chorography, clothing, jewelry, music  Traditions  Festivals  Religious happenings

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Cultural tourism facilitates travelers to be immersed in local rites and habits, more than just photo shooting but creating memories to share, of unique experiences after being blended with in the local society. Local communities are encouraged to embrace their traditional culture which in turn becomes an economic growth lifter. Cultural tourism development programs encourage locals to celebrate and promote their communities’ special characteristics and by doing so, is an opportunity for true cultural elements exchange between inhabitants and tourists.

A definition of cultural tourism is: “Cultural heritage tourism is traveling to experience the places, artifacts and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present. It includes cultural, historic, and natural resources” (National Trust for Historic Preservation) and another “Cultural tourism means travel concerned with experiencing cultural environments, including landscapes, the visual and performing arts, and special (local) lifestyles, values, traditions, events as well as other ways of creative and inter-cultural exchange processes” (UNESCO, 2001-2003).

Some examples of cultural tourism activities (CBI Ministry of Foreign Affairs) are the following:

 Archaeological and architectural  Historic sites and monuments  Arts, sculptures, crafts and galleries  Museums and exhibitions  Gardens  Music related activities  Castles and fortresses  National parks  Cooking activities  Religious venues, temples and mosques  Festivals or events

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The traveler profiles are allocated in two categories: (a) Motivated cultural tourist: The ones that experience and learn about local culture as the main travel purpose, they prefer to study the destination thoroughly so as to prepare themselves before the holiday starts and they desire to see and learn as much of a destination as possible and (b) Incidental cultural tourist: these are tourists that like to add cultural components to their holiday and culture is not the main reason of their vacation but it could be possible to participate in cultural events if these can be fitted to their schedule.

2.2.2 Importance

Besides the worth of attention positive socio-economic impact, cultural tourism establishes and reinforces the region’s identity, it helps in image creation; to preserve the cultural and historical heritage. Harmony and understanding among the people is facilitated through culture. Also, by supporting culture tourism is renewed (UNESCO, 2001-2003).

2.2.3 Three types of identity

The issue of identity is among the most essential constituents of cultural tourism. The struggle to create and meditate the identity it’s the main goal of cultural tourism as it is considered to be the key value for both hosts and visitors. The hosts try to promote the idea of a unique identity for their regions in order to attract new visitors and on the contrary this “local” identity will please those who seek cultural interest in their travel and aid to differentiate the cultural tourist from the others. According to Richards and Pereiro (2006) the features which contribute to the creation of a cultural identity are:

 Region’s need for differentiation  The pursuit for new community forms  Culture rating  The alteration concerning experiential tourism  Postmodern/postcolonial reification of identity 25

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As identity is defined: “the process of social construction of meanings that utilizes cultural attributes which occurs in the context of power relations” (Richards, 2006).

Understanding the identity is really vital. For this reason it is essential to define the 3 main types of identity as Manuel Castells distinguishes them. (The Power of identity Vol.2, 2010).

a) Legitimizing identity: presented by the leading organisations of society to spread and justify their control towards social actors b) Resistance identity: produced by those who are in positions/conditions undervalued and/or stigmatized by the logic of domination, thus building channels of resistance and survival on the basis of principles different from, or opposed to, those permeating the institutions of society, as Calhoun suggests when clarifying the appearance of identity politics c) Project identity: Social actors aim at a social structure transformation that is the reason why they try to build a brand new identity that gives an updated definition of their position. A very successful example is the case of the feminism moves which challenged the dominant patriarchalism aiming to change the model and structure of the society that was followed for decades.

Cultural tourism can apply and contribute to those types of identity. For example: the promotion of national monuments, could reinforce the legitimate identity, could create new cultural destinations in terms of resistant identity and the promotion of innovative communities’ images for project identity. Therefore, obviously cultural tourism can form and reform an identity in favor of tourism consumption. Additionally, tourism can affect the alteration of identity taking into consideration that sometimes cultural tourism can strengthen this type of identity as well as augment new senses and significances to travelers and sites in order to alter and transform identity profoundly.

Nevertheless, regardless how this process of “commodification of culture” evolves there are clear social costs (Talavera, 1997).

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Additionally, an evidence of high correlation in cultural tourism and identity is globalization combined with individualism due to the disintegration in traditional family forms and structure and modern social ties that have become very loose in comparison with the past years. This state requires a redefined “community construction” where cultural tourism could be ideological incentive to stimulate a new image and identity, regarding the modern social relation and consequently cause the modification of the borders and limits between societies in local and international level. Through this point of view however, cultural tourism is not directly allied with visiting sight-seeing, but also includes being part of the everyday life of the given destination. Alternatively, cultural tourism does not include consumption of past cultural products, but has to do with the modern way of life and culture of the inhabitants. “Hence, this perspective of cultural tourism, to some extent, moves in harmony with current issue of globalization and the inevitable process of commodification associated with it”. The general belief about tourism’s responsibility for local identity alteration by in view of the genuine nature of tourism expansion commands that commodities should be offered to tourists for economic benefits. Also, taking into consideration that the existing pattern of cultural consumption among tourists does not set a boundaries to physical products only but also in essentials of the routine of inhabitants as well (Richards, 1999).

This is a challenging concern about the importance of cultural tourism and its identity impact on to the degree this commodification procedure ought to be developed, both for cultural tourist consumption and for local societies that trade their identity, draining of cultural resources and living a life based on tourists’ expectations.

2.2.4 EU level

EU has high standards of cultural tourism as part of the European tourism experience as well as a constituent for European profile boost to be considered a global destination. Cultural tourism areas that have high growth possibilities are supported by the European Commission as well. Europe has become a significant cultural tourism endpoint due to a vast cultural heritage possession including museums, theatres, historical metropolises, archaeological sites, industrial sites and also 27

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traditional cuisine. The percentage of cultural tourism is estimated to be 40% of all European tourism and many tourists choose their destinations according to the cultural mix of the destination country. The EU has prepared an approach between taking into consideration the boost of growth, and on the other hand the protection of historical sites, artifacts and local traditions.

Some of the actions include cultural routes, such as the “European Cultural Routes” that are transnational paths that allow tourists to discover how Europeans have lived since antiquity. The launch of the concept led by the Council of Europe was in 1987. EC liaises with organisations such as the Council of Europe (“CoE”), the European Travel Commission (“ETC”), the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, and other international partners to contribute to the development of European Cultural Routes (“ECR”). A cooperative study, between the Commission and the Council of Europe, “European Cultural Routes impact on SMEs' innovation and competitiveness, 2010”, revealed that cultural routes have shown huge upside potential for small business generation, clustering, intercultural dialogue and image promotion of European continent. Cultural routes contribute significantly to the local economies due to the sustainable and ethical model progress, investing in local skills and knowledge frequently promoting less famous destinations. Almost 90% of cultural routes are through rural areas.

The EC publishes very often calls for proposals in order to fund these projects.

In 2017 EC funded six projects for the support of European cultural heritage-based transnational tourism products, using Cultural and Creative Industries (“CCIs”) related technologies (European Commission, 2017). Europe Crossroads is an event organized in an annual basis aiming to promote European cultural itineraries and increasing consciousness about their prospective for tourism between investors, businesses, destination managers, and public authorities.

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2.3 Ecotourism

2.3.1 Meaning

Ecotourism is “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education” (The International Ecotourism Society, 2015).

This is the bonding amid preservation, communities, and sustainable travel. Herewith those who apply participate in, and price ecotourism actions should implement these values:

a) Minimize physical, social, behavioral, and psychological influences b) Form environmental and cultural awareness c) Offer positive experiences for hosts and guests d) Provide financial support e) Produce profits for inhabitants and private business f) Provide unforgettable informational experiences to visitors which will help the destination countries raise their compassion regarding socio-political, and environmental climates g) Design, construct and operate low-impact facilities h) Identify the rights and spiritual beliefs of the local population and facilitate working in partnership in order to create empowerment

2.3.2 A mechanism for sustainable development

The growth of tourism can be credited to fluctuating lifestyle of modern societies, with citizens to seek for more leisure care more for environmental quality (Veenhoven, 1999). Moving from wealthy to developing countries there is a rising segment of this market. Leisure is a growing need combined with the desire for serenity, untouched natural beauty and the will of experiencing different cultures sets the basis of travelling abroad to exotic destinations. This fast evolution of tourism in

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the developing countries has raised prospects that tourism can be a driver of socio- economic development (Tapper, 2001).

Two extensive groups of tourism have been acknowledged:

a) Mass tourism b) Alternative tourism (Epler Wood, 2002).

Alternative tourism is divided into two segments (a) nature, (b) rural community- based and (c) cultural events-oriented tourism.

Ecotourism is frequently regarded as an easy entry to niche tourism markets, drawing on an apparent “unlimited” supply of natural products and signaling towards ideals of sustainability and environmental awareness (Hall, 2004).

At least three elements of ecotourism can be identified (Fennell & Dowling, 2003):

a) The experience of close contact with nature and people from different cultures; b) The choice of tourism’s forms that maximize profits for the poor rather than international tourism companies; and c) Reduction of the total environmental effect of travel

Various ecotourism’s definitions weight differently each of these elements, but there is a tendency to mix the three elements. Hereof, Peter Bjork argues that ecotourism is far away from farm tourism, nature tourism or adventure tourism, but “a unique form of tourism that recognizes the close relationship between good ecology and good economics” (Bjork, 2000) and Megan Wood refers to “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people” (Epler Wood, 2002).

International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) defines ecotourism as “environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features – both past and present) that promotes conservation, 30

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has low negative visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local population” (Ceballos Lascuráin, 1996).

Principally, ecotourism implies balancing needs and impacts, links “local economic benefits in the supply chain of tourism with preservation of ecology and social and cultural impacts of development” (Welford, 2000).

In order to achieve a balance four sectors are involved: “Governmental authorities, the tourism business sector, tourists and local people” (Bjork, 2000).

2.3.3 Cinque Terre: A sustainable tourism project

The territory of the Cinque Terre which is situated on the northeastern coast of Italy and has introduced a sustainable tourism project for the protection of culture, heritage and environment. Cinque Terre consists of the following five (5) villages that are reachable only by train or trail. These villages are: Corniglia, Manarola, Monterosso, Riomaggore, and Vernazza. Nevertheless the extended number of tourists’ arrivals has a negative impact on the region’s sustainability. Cinque Terre is characterized as a National Park since 1999 and is under UNESCO’s protection since 1997.

A Cinque Terre card with guidelines for the tourists in combination with information about the conservation of the region’s character as well as an environmental quality brand for accommodation facilities have been established by the sustainable tourism project applied in the area. The Cinque Terre Card gives access to all sites in order to be able to check the tourist imports.

The duration of the validity of this card varies from 1 to 7 days and it also allows transportation between the villages by bus or train included in the price. The revenue of the fees collected is used for the protection and conservation of the infrastructure. Numerous business sectors participate in the project in order to apply energy and water saving techniques by recycling and sustainable transportation. All information about reducing impact, supporting local economies and protecting region fragility are included in a leaflet offered for free to all visitors in order to be easily informed. An 31

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easy to read leaflet is offered to region’s visitors which is rather simple and easy offering options on how to decrease impact, boost local economies and protect the region’s fragility.

The Cinque Terre National Park received the award of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas (“ECST”) in 2015, and established a commitment of a five year strategy and action plan, following the philosophies and strategies of the ECST. The safeguarding of the natural and cultural values of the European parks, while reinforcing the quality of tourism is the ECST’s key objective.

2.4 Educational tourism

Higher education is progressively globalized, with increasing numbers of students seeking to study abroad. The United Kingdom has the second place in popularity for international students after the United States.

2.4.1 Meaning

The tourist’s main concern is to obtain new knowledge, about culture or history from other countries or cities. It is a recent type of tourism that has become a trend in many countries and especially in Europe.

International literature refers to two main concepts of educational tourism. These concepts are not recognized by all parties and are a part of scientific discussions because the differences between them are not significant. “The first definitions of educational tourism referred to adults’ continuous studies, sightseeing travel or cultural tourism” (Kalinowski & Weiler, 1992). In the following years, though, the emphasis was concentrated on the aspect of education. Brent W. Ritchie examines this problem in two different aspects: a) tourism being the main focus (tourism first), and b) education being the main focus (education first) (Ritchie, Carr & Cooper 2003). Also, “Educational tourism goes beyond a curiosity, interest or fascination for a

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particular topic but includes an element of organized learning” (Kalinowski & Weiler, 1992).

Ritchie notes that the case of educational tourism focuses mainly on education. He traits the excursions of schools, the foreign language learning, student exchange programs, and generally all the activities related to education, to educational tourism. Those who participate in educational tourism have motive to improve particular knowledge or special abilities. Nevertheless, this is debatable and the definitions overlap each other. A more comprehensive perceptive can state that the idea of tourism education expresses how to instruct tourism while at the same time educational tourism is about educational activity fulfilled through tourism.

Figure 2. 1 - Educational tourism combination of both tourism and education

Source: Using Educational Tourism in Geographical Education, Dalia Prakapienė - Loreta Olberkytė, 2013

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2.4.2 Mobility

The number of students that study abroad has significantly increased in the last decades, almost quadrupling from 1.3mn in 1990 to 5million in 2014 (ICEF Monitor, 2015). The structure of the number of students who leave their home country for educational reasons has changed significantly after 2008, with student mobility to direct to multidirectional movement instead of the one direction movement towards from east to west (University of Oxford, 2015). Although in OECD countries a percentage higher than 6% of students in higher education are international, the proportions differ among the countries. In the UK the percentage of international students exceeds the 21% – only Australia reaches this percentage by 20.7%. In Germany the same percentage is 8% and in the United States is 5% (iie.org, 2016). Nevertheless, the UK international students have a percentage that is increasing with a very low rate compared to any other large country – only 0.6% in 2015. North America is an example that student mobility is increasing faster (up 10.1% in Canada and 7.1% in the US) and in the majority of European countries (up 7.8% in Germany and 3.6% in France). This new trend of student mobility is verified by the data given which show the acceleration of the procedure: students decide to study away from home but preferably in a neighbor country. Latin America’s example is different as the percentage of students who decided to study away from home rose from 11% in 1999 to 23% in 2007. At the same period the percentage of East Asian students’ within the continent augmented from 26% to 42% (ICEF Monitor, 2016).

More than 90% of Japan’s international students come from Asia (Oxford University, 2016-17). The continuous of growth of student mobility shows that the capacity in higher education is also increasing.

2.4.3 Benefits

While the direct focus lies on the economic benefits of international students it would be very interesting to examine, the contribution of those students in terms of experience for the local students and the country’s global soft power. The international contacts are a great advantage for the local students who have the 34

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opportunity to understand other cultures and to be prepared for the globalized labour market. A recent survey confirmed that c.75% of local students endorse that studying with international students was a valuable preparation for working in the market. A 2017 report illustrated that “the ability of a country to attract foreign students, or facilitate exchanges, is an influential tool of public diplomacy” (McClory, 2017). Countries with world-leading universities in order to retain their dominance, the side economic and social benefits, it is critical to endure in attracting international students, outstanding academics and global researchers.

In the other benefits of such a situation are the visitors’ expenditure, as well as friends and relatives, who will probably often visit international students. For instance, parents who accompany their children, or visit them for holidays. Further economic activity is created by these visits.

The estimated net economic impact per student was estimated to be £68,000 per “typical” EU-domiciled student in the 2015-2016 group and £95,000 per non-EU- domiciled student (Figure 2.2). In essence, every 15 EU students and every 11 non- EU students generate £1mm worth of net economic impact for the UK economy during the period of their studies.

Figure 2. 2 - Net Impact per student (UK economy)

EU Non-EU Non-EU £95.000

EU £68.000

0 20.000 40.000 60.000 80.000 100.000

Source: London Economics’ analysis

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2.4.4 EU level

EU support for tourism higher education in higher education, activities carried out within the tourism sector for individuals are mainly related to mobility projects for higher education of students, including work placements abroad. Activities under the “Erasmus+” also promote broadening experience of students through a loan guarantee scheme to support Master’s degrees and finance their studies abroad. Regarding projects and activities to enhance transnational cooperation across member states, the most interesting activities in higher education are integrated international study programs. These can take the form of Joint Master’s degrees, such as the Erasmus Mundus European Master in Tourism Management (“EMTM”) involving three (3) universities situated in Denmark, Slovenia and Spain respectively and leading to a joint Master of Science (“MSc”) degree issued by all 3 institutions, or shorter cooperation based on strategic partnerships.

Support for developments in tourism education and training at a European level are notably provided currently through the “Erasmus+” program that has brought together earlier education and training programs at different levels in a single framework. At the higher education level, there are significant opportunities for students and staff to study and gain experience in other member states, notably through Erasmus exchanges. These can be quite extensive. The Faculty of Tourism and Geography at the Universitat Rovira I Vigili in Tarragona, for instance, has sixteen (16) partner universities in eleven (11) member states in an Erasmus program for its degree in Tourism.

Interventions under Erasmus+, however, also promote strategic developments as well as broadening the experience of students. The EMTM is a two-year joint master program involving three universities situated in Denmark, Slovenia and Spain and leading to a joint Master of Science (MSc) degree issued by all 3 institutions. The EMTM was established as an Erasmus Mundus master course in 2010 as part of a scheme to establish European master and doctoral programs of excellence.

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The general ranking consists of three distinct pillars with different weights: (a) Education (45%), measuring the quality of education; (b) Cost (30%), measuring what students should expect to pay; and (c) Life & Career (25%), appraising the life quality and the professional future after graduation. Each pillar is examined as follows.

Germany is the first choice of an international student as it combines world-class universities and a tuition-free public university system.

The UK is 2nd most common choice. It’s the first choice as far as “Education” and for “Life & Career” is concerned – but ranks 30th for “Cost” as everyday expenses are high and tuition fees as well. The forthcoming Brexit may change the country’s ranking in the future years.

France is at the 3rd place and the Netherlands follow. Just like Germany, France attracts foreign students because of its highly reputed but economic universities.

Poland is the new entrance of 2018 top 10. It is one of the most affordable countries, and the fact that Polish universities have now available English-taught classes makes the difference. For this reason the number of international students in Polish universities has exploded from 12,000 to more than 65,000 in the last decade. The study groups the next batch of countries from 11-20 and 21-30. Greece is ranked in the last batch with no available data on this study.

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Figure 2. 3 - EU country ranking 2018-attractivity to international students

Source: Study.eu (2018) 2.5 Health / Medical tourism

2.5.1 Meaning

Health tourism is also defined as medical tourism. For centuries people travel to recover and restructure their health and stamina. Although medical tourism is not a new concept has grown admiration recently. Lots of people cover long distances to exotic locations or health care facilities in distant countries searching high quality medical treatment. Several developing countries keep emerging as popular medical tourism destinations, taking advantage of low cost services. Even first class hospitals offer special packages including remedies facilities. Consequently health tourism covers solely or in combination the following aspects:

 Modification of climate  Alternative therapy such as Ayurveda treatments, hot Sulfur springs, Naturopathy and art of living  Health treatment

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2.5.2 Top destinations

Medical tourism is becoming a successful industry, as many countries decide to offer medical care to foreigners. Economic reasons lead people to seek for medical care abroad and in the meantime immigrants decide to return to their home countries for health treatment.

Medical care is usually combined with more activities in those countries. They usually offer more than medical care such as tourism opportunities and spa amenities.

According to Patients beyond Borders, approximately 900,000 US citizens decided to travel abroad in order to seek for medical treatment in 2017 and this number constantly increasing since 2008. Patients beyond Borders note that nearly 8million patients worldwide decide to look for treatment outside their home country, creating a global industry between $20 billion to $40 billion.

People choose to make a medical tourism trips usually for cosmetic surgeries, dentistry reasons, and heart problems. Less common reasons are reproductive reasons, orthopedics, weight loss, cancer, scans, tests, health screenings and second opinions.

2.5.3 Economic impact

The income from health tourism in 2017 was €46.9 billion in the EU, amount that represents 4.6% of the overall tourism incomes and 0.33% of the EU28 GDP. More 75% of the EU health-tourism incomes are contributed by the following five countries only: France, Italy, Germany, Poland and Sweden. The 17% is for wellness tourism as a main trip motive which totals about €31 billion and the remaining 83% is for expenditures connected with wellness, for other purpose trips and for business trips as well (Mainil, Eijgelaar, Klijs, Nawijn & Peeters, 2017).

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2.5.4 EU medical tourism

In Europe, the medical travel market has grown exponentially in recent years and many European countries are gradually becoming key players in the industry. A key driver of growth in health travel in Europe is the 2014 European Directive (European Commission, 2011) on cross-border healthcare allowing EU citizens’ free access to healthcare in all member states to be reimbursed by the EU.

Since this directive, countries in Eastern and Central Europe such as Turkey, Poland, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Hungary, and Romania became choice tourism destinations for Western Europeans.

Patients usually travel to other countries for health travel purposes due to the unavailability of what they need in terms of procedure in their home countries and also for economic reasons as well as for higher quality of care abroad. They also prefer to enjoy a short holiday while recovering and taken care of (Medical Tourism Magazine, 2018).

Medical travel is a subsector of health tourism which includes wellness tourism and spa tourism as well. Medical travel involves treatment of disease, wellness tourism market, promoting personal wellbeing through rejuvenation and pleasurable activities, while at the same time spa tourism is involved in disease prevention and health sustenance through a wide range of non-medical and medical, and each of these have an enormous impact on the economy of member states.

According to the 2017 report, Health tourism in the EU: a general investigation by the EU’s Directorate-General for Internal Policies, health tourism In the EU is valued at €47 billion, accounting for 4.6% of the general tourism market and 0.33% of the EU28 gross domestic product.

Germany, Sweden, Poland, Italy, and France are the major players in the EU28 health tourism market, with the health tourism market in these countries accounting for 75% of the EU28 market.

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Across the EU, there are several models and organisation of medical travel, as provided by the directive on cross-border healthcare, some countries have worked together to provide various healthcare services to other countries under certain conditions.

At the border of France and Belgium is the Ardennes cross-border collaboration, a partnership between both countries allowing French women seeking obstetric care in Belgium. This care includes prenatal care and delivery.

Even though the healthcare cooperation between France and Belgium began informally in 2002, it became official and legally founded in 2005 when a “zone of access to cross-border care” was established to allow people under insurance coverage receive treatment in designated hospitals and health facilities on either side of the border.

Although this partnership has yielded small returns for France, the country is looking to diversify its economy by opening its doors to medical travelers outside the EU.

In a report commissioned by the French government in 2015, health economist Jean de Kervasdoué recommended that by creating an umbrella organisation such as “Medical France” which would help increase their international clientele and attract more foreign patients as well as to create international tourism departments where staff would be equipped to communicate with foreigners in major languages.

The report noted that re-inventing the French healthcare system to be more tourism- friendly could create at least 30,000 employment positions and boost the country’s economy by €2 billion by 2020.

Assistance Publique-Hospitaux de Paris (AP-HP) public hospital group, France’s largest healthcare institution is drawing up plans to revamp its system of operations including its billing system and patient packages to be more competitive to rates slightly slower than those of Belgium and Germany. It has applied a 30% mark-up to non-EU residents who schedule visit the hospital for treatment.

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Also in a bid to boost its stake in the medical travel industry, Italy launched Intercare Medical Tourism Exhibition, its first international medical travel exhibition in Milan. Intercare has partnered with the European Union of Private Hospitals (“UEHP”) with the aim of attracting international medical travelers and earning more revenue for the country.

Gruppo San Donato (“GSD”), Italy’s leading private healthcare group, through Intercare, has made an agreement with the Romanian government to allow referral of patients with complex diseases into Italy. It has also created offices in Dubai as a way of targeting patients from the Middle East.

“The first edition of Intercare has been a milestone to increase awareness of medical travel. Institutions, hospital groups, and facilities have all been present and cohesive in order to lay the foundations of an important development project that will improve the quality of life.” noted Maurizio Cavezzali, President of Intercare.

The UK-Malta cross-border healthcare partnership is one of the oldest and most consistent cross-border medical travel models in Europe. It started in 1975 and it offers Maltese patients free access to specialized care for rare diseases which is currently unavailable in Malta. In return, the UK benefits from this partnership by having its citizens who are temporarily or permanently residents of Malta granted access to free healthcare in Malta, outside the existing EU directive.

This cooperation allows about 180 Maltese patients for treatment in the NHS per year. The services provided through the partnership are offered for free and the referred patients receive the same quality of care using the same protocols, guidelines, and procedures, as National Health Service (“NHS”) patients.

For every referral, Maltese clinicians discuss with appropriate UK experts, and if an agreement is reached as to the specialist care the patient requires, a formal application is made and submitted to the Treatment Abroad Advisory Committee (“TAAC”) in Malta. There are some cases that require urgent care and referral, these cases are approved verbally and the patients are transferred with Air Malta to the UK.

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This collaboration also enhances the mobility of healthcare professionals as UK doctors in 12 subspecialties arrange regular outpatient and follow-up clinics in Malta for Maltese patients who received care in the UK under the cooperation scheme.

Care received by an EU citizen in another Member State can be paid for in different ways. Firstly the patients have the right to pay for themselves. Secondly, payment could be made through a private insurance such as medical travel insurance. Third, payment could be made by insurance companies which partner with health providers in the destination Member State. The fourth mode of payment is through the EU framework which allows patients who are insured under social health insurance schemes to receive planned treatment abroad with reimbursement by the national health insurer.

Being on track to restructure health tourism in Europe and develop healthcare systems and technology, it is undoubtable that in the near future we will see Europe taking the one of the first positions in the global medical travel market (Medical Tourism Magazine, 2018).

2.5.5 Medical Tourism Index

Medical tourism continuously possess one of the first places of the most popular types of tourism due to the fact that an increasing number of patients from all over the world travel abroad for medical care reasons. Despite the fact that medical tourism’s market size is growing and the number of countries promoting and branding themselves as medical travel destinations is increasing, there is not enough reliable data in order to measure to quantify and qualify this type of tourism.

The Medical Tourism Index (“MTI”) is a new type of performance measure to evaluate the appeal of a country as a medical tourist destination.

The MTI’s development was a long, multi-steps and multi-stakeholder procedure. The company IHRC.Inc followed an eight step method in order to construct a procedure 43

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which would develop this psychometric sound measurement. “The MTI is a multi- dimensional construct consisting of three main dimensions (country, industry and medical facility and personal) with 34 underlying indicators. It is the first index helping countries, public policymakers, healthcare and tourism industry, place marketers and underlying organisations and people to have an assessment of their place as a medical tourism destination” (International Healthcare Research Center, n.d.).

The MTI is a worldwide point of reference that measures the attractiveness of countries as medical tourism destinations by evaluating and examining the country’s state as a medical tourism destination. In 2015 the report was published for the first time and included 30 countries and made comparisons for the 25 of them on based on 34 criteria. This report used opinion survey process. MTI values can be compared to secondary data like population, GDP per capita, Global Competitiveness Index (“GCI”), Consumer Expenditure on Hospital Services (“CEHS”) and others in order to add value on its results (International Healthcare Research Center, n.d.).

2.6 Geotourism

2.6.1 Meaning

The definition is “the kind of tourism that sustains or enhances the distinctive geographical character of a place, its environment, heritage, aesthetics, culture, and the well-being of its residents” (National Geographic, n.d.).

Geotourism has the following characteristics: is (a) environmentally oriented, with the aim to preserve resources and maintain biodiversity (b) culturally targeted, by respecting resident sensibilities and building on local heritage and (c) creates interactions by combining the total of the elements of geographical character in order to create an unforgettable travel experience which appeals to visitors with various interests.

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The 2003 Geotourism study sponsored by National Geographic and conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America, resulted that 65 million American households are willing to support the values of Geotourism.

2.6.2 Benefits of Geotourism

Economic benefits: Travel businesses give too much effort to utilize local workforce, services, products, and supplies. Once the local community recognizes the beneficial part of Geotourism, it becomes a strong motivation for wise destination stewardship.

Geotourism supports integrity: Destination-savvy travelers pursue businesses that give emphasis on the location’s character. Tourism income make the locals appreciate the value of those assets.

Inform both visitors and hosts: Residents do discover their own heritage and how their everyday life which is ordinary and familiar to them, could surely be interesting to discover for the visitors. Local people try to develop their pride for their region and their skill for promoting their locale and at the same time tourists gain more out of their visits.

Different kind of trips: Enthusiastic visitors’ transfer back home a “new knowledge” narrating stories that intrigue their acquaintances to experience a similar experience - a persistent business for the destination.

2.6.3 How to support Geotourism

National Geographic works with in combination with a number of local regions, states, countries, organisations and communities in order to be able to build alliances and products for the support of Geotourism marketing and hospitality mainly built on local knowledge and needs.

The before mentioned products are Geotourism MapGuides, printed maps, and mobile apps built around places and themes proposed by inhabitants and reviewed

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and checked by National Geographic so as to deliver a complete guide to the places most suggested and appreciated by local residents.

These products come as a result of partnership with a local Geotourism stewardship council that is assembled by National Geographic with representatives from social actors (National Geographic, n.d.).

2.6.4 Greece: The geological wonders

The Greek land has numerous landscapes of rare geological beauty to explore such as Active volcanoes, imposing caves, outstanding gorges, large and small geological faults, unusual rock formations and minerals. They witness the unstoppable earth evolution, and they are a testimony to the supreme power of Greek nature. This virtue of Greece’s natural-geological phenomena are reflected in the impressive variations of the soil and rocks of the Greek territory (Discover Greece, n.d.).

2.6.5 Arouca declaration

In November 2011, The International Conference of Geotourism (under UNESCO support), was organized in Portugal and specifically in the Arouca Geopark with subject “Geotourism in Action - Arouca 2011”. The “Arouca Declaration” Organizing Committee resulted with the following:

1. Recognition of the necessity of explanation for the Geotourism concept. The definition of “Geotourism” is the following: Geotourism is the type of tourism which supports and improves the territory’s identity, taking into account its geology, environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage and the well-being of its population. Geological tourism is one of the types of Geotourism. 2. The history of life on earth is conserved, disseminated and preserved via geological tourism. This type of tourism allows tourists to visitors to profoundly comprehend the past 4,600million years of earth’s life in order to see the present from another point of view and plan common future for the planet and humanity as well.

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3. New technology should be used in order to appreciate the rich geological heritage of the planet. 4. It is a reality that the whole package of information and data regarding the geological heritage is often presented with a complicated way to the public. Usually this information is included in scientific papers written in a specialized language that does not allowed common people to understand. As a result it was decided that this kind of information must be presented to the public with a clear way and should be easily accessible to anyone interested. 5. The main principle of Freeman Tilden’s theory regarding the geological heritage which firstly appeared in 1957 should be applied. “Any presentation of geological heritage that does not somehow relate to something in the personal experience of the visitor will be sanitized. The information does not consist interpretation. Interpretation is revelation based on information. The two notions are different but all interpretation includes information but the interpretation of a natural space must provoke and arouse curiosity and emotion much more than teaching;” 6. The development of Geotourism should be facilitated in terms of environmental, geological, cultural and historical heritage. In this context, the inhabitants should be effectively involved in order to welcome the visitors to help them build and promote local identity by encouraging the genuine and unique components of the territory. Arouca (Arouca Geopark, Portugal), 12 November 2011 (Geoworldtravel, 2011).

2.7 Industrial tourism

2.7.1 Meaning

Industrial tourism is defined as traveling with aim to visit sites “which showcase a particular type of expertise from the past, present or future to the general public” (France.fr, n.d.).

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2.7.2 Examples

There are numerous tours organized for people that are interested into visiting industrial areas and focus on finding interest, grandeur and beauty in those places that people consider sources of pollution (Sood, 2011). Tourists interested in industrial sites seek to explore both industrial heritage places and operational sites (Otgaar, 2010).

Some examples of sites where industrial tours are organized:

 The industrial hub of Kawasaki, Japan  The Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France  Virginia’s Belle Isle, USA  Nuclear power plant in Bataan, Philippines  Balaklava submarine base, Ukraine  New York’s Brooklyn Navy Yard, USA  Detroit, USA

2.7.3 Impact of Industrial Tourism

The countries above consider the development of industrial tourism as a strategic objective in their tourism and industrial policy. These regions expect industrial tourism to have economic impacts and reputation impacts regarding both the region itself but also its industries (Otgaar, & Klijs, 2010).

2.8 Religious tourism

2.8.1 Meaning

Religious tourism is also known as Pilgrimage or Faith or Spiritual tourism. In this type of tourism, individuals or groups of people travel for pilgrimage. One of the most famous religious events of pilgrimage is the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Modern people interested in faith tourism can more easily visit holy cities and holy sites around the world nowadays in comparison with the past. The

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most well-known holy cities in the world are Jerusalem, Mecca and Varanasi (Swatos, n.d.).

2.8.2 Description

Religious tourism is a type of tourism which is strongly inspired by religious motives. People choose religious holidays in order to confirm, develop or reflect upon their faith. The main purpose is to:

a) Connect to a sacred place as a person b) Understand and appreciate deeply a religion c) Feel released from concerns d) Find peace and meaning in life.

Table 2. 2 - Examples of religious tourism activities

Pilgrimages Religious tourist attractions

Missionary travel Monastery visits and guest-stays

Leisure (fellowship) vacations Faith-based camps

Faith-based cruises Retreats

Religious conventions and rallies Faith-based events (bar mitzvah, wedding, funeral)

Source: CBI Ministry of Foreign Affairs, (n.d.)

2.8.3 Traveler profile

Religious travelers are dedicated travelers. They incline to save money for these religious experiences. This tourism sector is consequently less vulnerable to economic volatility in the tourism market.

Religious travelers choose to travel in groups, unless they seek for pilgrimage; in that case they usually would travel alone without excluding a group trip as well. The average duration of a religious trip is around 7 to 10 days, according to Helsinki University’s research (CBI, n.d.).

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2.9 Rural tourism / Agrotourism

2.9.1 Meaning

Rural tourism has multiple definitions. Rural tourism is mainly about trips of which the leading purpose is to enjoy rural areas, communities and experiences.

Rural tourism’s objective is to embrace and take advantage of rural regions by preserving their environment and culture at the same time. It aims to bring economic development to rural areas by the creation of additional revenue and new working positions. Tourism development is likely to develop the social wellbeing in these particular areas (Irshad, 2010).

Rural tourism is also related to:

 “nature and eco tourism  adventure tourism  community-based tourism  cultural and heritage tourism” (CBI Ministry of Foreign Affairs, n.d.).

2.9.2 Main focus and description

Rural tourism gives emphasis to actively partaking in the rural lifestyle of the region visited. It can be an alternative type of ecotourism. Numerous rural villages can facilitate tourism because a lot of villagers are hospitable and enthusiastic to welcome (and sometimes even host) visitors. Due to the mechanization of Agriculture less manual labour in required. This tendency results in economic pressure for these regions, which consequently leads young people to transfer to urban areas. There is nevertheless, a respectful percentage of the urban population that is interested to go for holidays to the rural areas and understand the everyday lifestyle (Jaunimosodyba.lt, n.d.).

Agrotourism started aiming only to the improvement of farmer’s life especially in villages situated in the mountains and in areas with an economy under development.

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Agrotourism incentives have succeeded to prevent depopulation by keeping the residents of these regions at home. At the same time, the renovation of buildings that takes place preserve the architectural heritage, the regional cultural heritage is promoted and the farmers’ revenue is supplemented and improved.

Agrotourism seems to be flourishing at the right momentum in order to cover the need of fatigued city-tourists for contacting with nature, as well as with long-forgotten experiences, like bread baking and traditional pastry-making, loom weaving, horse- back riding, a stroll in the forest and everyday life at a more tranquil rhythm.

This type of tourism allows the local communities to grow by helping their economies to bloom and prosper. It also assists the production of traditional goods which could possibly vanish otherwise. These products usually are fruit preserves and jams, embroidery, the cultivation of aromatic herbs and pasta. It also conserves human memory through traditional celebrations and revival of local customs, it facilitates communication among the regions that are isolated from the big cities and finally it offers extended opportunities to local young people.

Greek people involved in the Agrotourism industry are increasing day by day; the number of traditional accommodations is constantly growing and the country is quickly becoming a respectful Agrotourism destination. Guesthouses built in the traditional style with comfortable but simple accommodations are offered in many villages of the country; others offer a complete "holistic retreat" accommodation style including bird sanctuaries, organic gardens, and traditional "taverns" serving their own home-grown products.

The Greek government gives its support to all agro-tourism initiatives applied in the country and more specifically it offers economic support for investing in tourism and handicraft activities linked to agrotourism (Alternative Greece, n.d).

Rural travelers mostly take part in everyday activities, lifestyles and traditions of rural communities in order to live a custom-made experience of the rural area. They prefer to rent rural accommodation, that offer combined rural activities and attractions.

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Table 2. 3 - Examples of rural accommodation, attractions and activities

Accommodation Activities Attractions  Campground  Animal observation  Archaeological sites

 Community lodge  Boat trip  Cultural centres

 Family-run guesthouse  Cycling  Cultural, gastronomic, heritage and other  Farm  Cooking workshop routes/trails  Local family/homestay  Handicraft workshop  Folk groups  Rural Bed & Breakfast  Horse-riding  Heritage sites  Small rural hotel  Fishing  Landscape sceneries  Tent  Sporting activities  Local industrial, agricultural  Tree house  Swimming or craft companies

 Village house  Tours, for example village,  Local markets coffee, tea or wine tours  Museums  Walking trail  Plantations

 Wildlife sanctuaries

Source: CBI Ministry of Foreign Affairs, (n.d.)

2.9.3 Travelers’ profile

Rural travelers’ profiles can be divided as follows:

 highly educated;  well-travelled;  coming from higher socio-economic groups.

The travelers mentioned above can be divided in 4 groups:

1. Older generations

People between 50 and 70 years old who are close to retirement or already retired, are relatively more interested in rural tourism. The reason is that they have more free time and more money to spend compared to other groups. They are usually very experienced travelers who enjoy rural, discreet environments and seek new 52

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experiences. They anticipate high value for money, they have higher standards than other travelers and are prepared to pay more for genuine experiences.

2. Younger travelers

The younger travelers are between 18-44 years old. They may have already studied away from their home country. Those travelers are very interested in discovering new destinations far away from their homes. This group is furtherly divided in two other groups:

2.a. High income, little time

This group consists of people aged between 31 and 44 years old that have high income but restricted time to travel. They mostly travel in couples, although there are many of them that choose single traveling. This group is seeking for uncommon ‘once in a lifetime’ experiences combined with comfort that it really counts for them.

2.b. Reduced daily budgets for longer periods

This is the youngest group 18 to 30 years old. Their budget is rather limited but they prefer to travel for longer periods with their backpacks.

They prefer more economic accommodation and they try to engage with indigenous communities and experience local activities and products. Volunteer work on community or conservation projects is many times combined with the aim of their travel.

3. Families

The family travelers are parents or grandparents with children or grandchildren traveling together. Families prefer rural tourism and are becoming more quality and price aware. They seek for excellent facilities and a respectable balance of safety and entertainment combined with cultural enrichment and higher-end experiences.

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4. Travelers with special rural interests

The interest in rural recreation being the dominant purpose of a trip increased significantly in the last years. Cycling and walking are very popular activities in terms of special rural interests. German and Dutch travelers are mainly attracted by this kind of holidays. This sector also provides significant prospects for rural tourism providers (CBI Ministry of Foreign Affairs, n.d.).

2.10 Sex tourism

2.10.1 Meaning

According to Clift & Carter (2000) definition sex tourism is a travel of which the motivation is to engage in commercial sexual acts. These trips’ destinations are usually countries where prostitution is legal (CDC, n.d.).

The Latin American countries are in the first positions of rising sex tourism. Cancun in Mexico, Rio in Brazil, Dominican Republic’s beaches, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Honduras are very famous for their inexpensive and easy access to sex (Felix de la Luz, 2018).

2.10.2 Sex tourists

The sex tourists are divided in the groups below:

 Middle-aged, white Western men  Younger men and men from Latin America  Women

Tourists of all income levels are clients of this type of tourism (Yates, 2016).

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2.10.3 Impact of sex tourism

The legislation on prostitution differs from one country to another but the rising request for sexual services has driven a sex industry that runs basically in the shadows while it is forcing people into prostitution. The victims of this industry are generally women and children, but also refugees and LGBT individuals.

Despite the significant efforts to combat sexual exploitation that have been made in the last years in the Latin American countries, the problem still exists putting in danger thousands of lives. According to the 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report, “the majority of countries in Latin America do not fulfill the standards for combating this law-breaking” (Felix de la Luz, 2018).

Other initiatives, such as the site reportchildsextourism.eu encourages travelers to report sex tourism which involves children (ECPAT International, n.d.).

2.11 Space tourism

2.11.1 Meaning

Space tourism is defined as the activity of travelling into space for pleasure and interest (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.).

2.11.2 Trends

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”) is the leader of space exploration since Chuck Yeager’s X-1 flight, who was the first human to officially break the sound barrier. NASA has encouraged the flourishing of the aerospace knowledge and in the meantime has created a growing need for space tourism and privatization of the space exploration industry.

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In the next 20 years the decommissioning of the International Space Station (“ISS”) due to budget limitations will oblige NASA to depend on space tourism companies (NASA, n.d.).

The leading companies in the space tourism sector are:

 Space Adventures  EADS Astrium  Virgin Galactic  Armadillo Aerospace  Excalibur Almaz  Space Island Group  SpaceX  Boeing  Zero2Infinity

The above mentioned companies are currently manufacturing and launching advanced rockets and spacecraft aiming to enable people to live on other planets in the future. They aim to create a fleet of spaceships and start making interested people travel into space, trying to provide customers with unique orbital and suborbital experiences (SpaceX, n.d.).

A. Suborbital

Suborbital spaceships travel at an altitude of 100km (edge of space) and return back to Earth. Their passengers would take just a look of the blackness of space while experiencing a few minutes of weightlessness.

B. Orbital

These flights are addressed to those who can afford them. Orbital flights visit the ISS and remain at least at one orbit (Chow, 2011).

Bob Smith, CEO of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson strongly believe that during 2018 people will have the opportunity to visit space for touristic reasons (Prosser, 2018). 56

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The global space tourism market was valued at $474.46mn in 2017 and is expected to reach $1580.63mn by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 16.2% (Planet Market Reports, 2018).

The rising competition between space-travel companies combined with technology progression would most probably reduce cost of space travel significantly in the forthcoming years (Datta, 2017).

2.12 Sports Tourism

2.12.1 Meaning

Sports tourism is any type of travel done in order to participate or/and watch a sporting event (Jumpsix Marketing, 2016). Sports tourism finds its roots in ancient Greece when people travelled to watch the Olympic Games or the Panathinaia.

The five categories of sports tourism identified in Weed and Bull’s book Sports Tourism are the following:

I. sports participation, II. tourism with sports content, III. luxury sports tourism, IV. sports events, and V. sports training

2.12.2 Benefits of sports tourism

a. Stimulation of the local economy by involving:  direct spending due to the use of sport facilities and services;  spending for goods and services from the local markets;  employment opportunities  revenue related to taxation 57

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b. Improvement of the area’s image c. Provision of outstanding entertainment d. Participation and even contribution to the quality of life (The Ohio State University, n.d.).

A very common example is Barcelona, Spain which has doubled its total of tourists in the 10 years after the Olympic Games of 1992. Other neighbor cities also profited from this fact. After the Olympic Games, Barcelona has climbed from the 11th place to the sixth most attractive European city (AIPS, 2010).

As far Greece is considered, according to data presented at the IMIC 2017 tourism conference which was held in Santorini, locals, participants and organizers welcomed the idea of developing the sports tourism product. A survey that was performed in July-September 2017 provided evidence that the particular tourism product is expected to increase by 4.3% in 2018.

“It’s undoubtedly an area with great potential for growth, and Greece is an ideal destination due to its geography and climate” as Petros Bouchoris, lecturer at the Hellenic Open University, declared.

During the last years numerous running and endurance events are being organized mostly on the islands during non-touristic periods such as the Santorini Experience and the Andros Trail Race. An example that demonstrates the importance of those events is that “Santorini Experience 2017” took place under the auspices of the Greek National Tourism Organisation and the Hellenic Swimming Federation was broadcast in 87 countries through FOX Sports TV network (GTP editing team, 2017).

2.12.3 Big sport events 2018

Major events are the key drivers to create and income for the country, boost expenditure in infrastructure facilities and gain publicity for a city or the whole county as lots of types of events cannot be hosted in a single city. The most

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prestigious sport events that have concentrated the global interest currently are (BBC, 2018):

 Football - World Cup, Russia

 Tennis - Wimbledon

 Cycling - Tour de France

 Formula 1 - British Grand Prix, Silverstone

 Golf - The Open, Carnoustie

 Hockey - Women's World Cup, London

 Cricket - England v India Test series starts at Edgbaston

 European Sports Championships, Glasgow and Berlin

 Golf - Ryder Cup, Le Golf National, Paris

 Cricket - Women's World Twenty20, West Indies

2.13 Virtual tourism

2.13.1 Meaning

Virtual tourism is a tool based on information and communications technology which uses digital technology and sensory feedback to simulate touristic sites available at remote destinations according to IGI Global’ s definition (IGI Global, n.d.).

2.13.1 Trends

Walking through the ruins of Pompeii in Italy or diving the Great Barrier Reef in Australia or even climbing the 3,000 ft. vertical rock face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park are some examples of already available online free virtual tours.

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These tours provided by Google using a similar to Street View technology, allows the audience to visit and actually explore of any town in the world preferred. Buildings’ virtual tours are also available through the Business View program designed to attract more customers.

All the above though are designed for promotional reasons. The inner hope of their creators is to attract new visitors. The same type of technology could be used for for- profit virtual tours, bringing in revenue from people who might never visit actually the place.

The reasons, that this is not applied yet, are:

 The technology isn’t quite advanced yet to support it.

 Google’s Street View is really impressive but needs a lot of improvements in order to compete with the real experience.

 Virtual tours cannot be sold right now because most of them are offered online free of charge which as a fact undermines the business hidden behind it (Eye of travel, 2015).

Virtual tourism can compete with reality especially for the creation of “memories that are inherently bound to in-real-life traveling experiences” (Mashable, 2016).

2.14 Atomic tourism

2.14.1 Meaning

Atomic tourism is an innovative type of tourism in which visitors are interested in learning about the Atomic Age. For this reason they choose to travel to important places related to atomic history such as museums with atomic weapons, vehicles that carried atomic weapons or sites where atomic weapons were detonated (Boyle, 2017).

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2.14.2 Destinations

The Center for Land Use Interpretation (“CLUI”) has organized tours to the Nevada Test Site, Trinity Site, and other historical atomic age sites, in order to explore the cultural importance of these Cold War nuclear regions. The book Overlook: Exploring the Internal Fringes of America refers to the purpose of this type of tourism as "windows into the American psyche, landmarks that manifest the rich ambiguities of the nation's cultural history." The American photographer Richard Misrach and the writer Myriam Weisang Misrach proposed A Bureau of Atomic Tourism (widely known as “BOAT”) in the early 90s.

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3 Competitiveness measures in tourism

Regardless of the general accepted principle about tourism’s importance, due to its direct economic benefit, there is an indirect benefit also. Tourism contributes building the international profile for a country promoting its image globally and at the same time influences the supplementary domestic policies. This array of influence and significance creates challenges in the measurements of the competitiveness of tourism.

Although several indicators have been presented by different organisations, OECD tried to create measures for tourism competiveness and bridge the gap by producing a general framework for tourism competitiveness for government use.

OECD approached the issue by trying to generate a restricted set of evocative and robust indicators, useful for in a government level, in order to be able to evaluate and measure the country’s tourism competitiveness and to create the required policy. This framework aims to offer a tool for the countries to analyze tourism competitiveness and inform policy and not to create just an index or a list of ranking of competitive countries.

Many countries (30 in total), including Greece, and different organisations have shown great interest in monitoring competitiveness in tourism.

The agreed definition was: “Tourism competitiveness for a destination is about the ability of the place to optimize its attractiveness for residents and non-residents, to deliver quality, innovative, and attractive (e.g. providing good value for money) tourism services to consumers and to gain market shares on the domestic and global market places, while ensuring that the available resources supporting tourism are used efficiently and in a sustainable way” (Indicators for Measuring Competitiveness in Tourism: A Guidance Document, OECD Tourism Papers, 2013/02).

The study ended in the development of four categories of indicators.

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3.1 Categories of indicators

3.1.1 Tourism performance & impact

Added economic value is a significant measure for advanced tourism economies in order to be able to be competitive in the global tourism market and face equally other industries. Aiming at surpassing the high level of touristic fragmentation the value of tourism requires a broader cooperation between the parts of the touristic value chain.

This will facilitate the offer of a complete tourism experience by supporting an improved use of current infrastructure, workforce and assets. Traditional tourism indicators which track the changes regarding jobs, income and revenue could achieve an indirect measurement of these issues.

3.1.2 Destination’s ability to offer quality and competitive tourism services

A healthy business environment and the production processes are the key sources to a destination’s competitiveness. These indicators are directly related to the supply side of the touristic economy.

3.1.3 Attractiveness of a destination

The tourism’s experience quality in combination with the touristic competitiveness are mainly connected to the attractiveness of a specific destination. The attractiveness and uniqueness of a place should be reserved in order to a destination to be competitive. The identity of the locale, natural and cultural resources and the everyday life should be those elements that build the tourism experience. Indicators with attractiveness characteristics should be taken into consideration in order to monitor a destination’s competitiveness.

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3.1.4 Policy responses and economic opportunities description

The motivation given to the countries to become more competitive and more attractive is provided by a vibrant influential context able to apply and reinforce innovative support policies in countries that are interested in creating a competitive and sustainable tourism environment. Tourism development is based on these policies. In order for innovative tourism services to grow, new drivers are required to support those (Dupeyras & MacCallum, 2013).

After the completion of a detailed survey, OECD countries agreed on the key fundamentals to be considered in a tourism competitiveness valuation (Table 3.1).

Table 3. 1 - Key elements defining competitiveness in tourism

No Key elements Description Countries responsed Government support and tourism as a priority, Regulations, a whole of government approach, a tourism strategy, safety and security, public/private partnerships, vertical cooperation, statistics and data, multilateral Belgium, Canada, Chile, Egypt, cooperation, institutions (e.g. national tourism Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, 1 Governance of tourism board), budget allocated to tourism support Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom Product differentiation, innovation, investments, market share, provide unique Australia, Austria, Belgium, experiences, Increase the added value of Brazil, Canada, Denmark, tourism, develop high value segments, Finland, France, Germany, marketplace perspective (including Hungary, Israel, Mexico, New prospective travelers, tourism operators and Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, 2 Product development small businesses) Turkey, United Kingdom Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Improve quality, welcome of visitors, quality Republic, Denmark, Finland, Quality of tourism of life, social equity and cohesion, services to France, Germany, Hungary, 3 services consumers Portugal, Slovenia, Spain Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Prices, exchange rates, ratio price/quality Greece, Norway, Poland, 4 Price competitiveness “value for money”, taxation United Kingdom

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No Key elements Description Countries responsed Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Accessibility/ Infrastructure development, geostrategic Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United 5 connectivity position of the destination, proximity Kingdom

Promotion and marketing, identity, image, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Branding of the awareness of the destination, breadth of Canada, France, United 6 destination appeal, market diversification Kingdom Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Natural and cultural Sustainability, gastronomy, climate, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, 7 resources biodiversity Spain, Turkey Human resources Skills, education and training, labour Belgium, Chile, Estonia, 8 development productivity, tourism training centers Greece, Spain, Turkey Source: Indicators for Measuring Competitiveness in Tourism: A Guidance Document, OECD Tourism Papers, 2013/02

Eight categories in total concentrate the essentials to measure competitiveness, half of which (Governance of tourism, Accessibility/ connectivity Natural and cultural resources, Human resources development) are considered important for Greece due to the country’s competitive advantage or fast development in the future. The indexes below are based on these key elements.

3.2 The Indicators

The indicators are clustered into three groups (a) Core: eleven in total, both quantitative and qualitative, (b) Supplementary: five indicators constituting of additional measures for competiveness and (c) Future development: indicators for further future use.

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Table 3. 2 - List of Core, Supplementary and Future Development Indicators

No. Measure Indicator Comment (A) Core indicators

Tourism Direct Gross A leading international measure of the tourism 1 Domestic Product contribution to GDP Tourism Inbound tourism revenues per performance 2 visitor by source market A measure of the economic activity of visitors and Overnights in all types of impacts 3 accommodation A measure of tourism flows in accommodation A measure showing the contribution of tourism to 4 Exports of tourism services exports Labour productivity in tourism A measure providing evidence of the productive 5 Ability of a services potential of the tourism economy destination to Purchasing Power Parity A measure showing tourism price competitiveness 6 deliver quality (PPPs) and tourism prices using PPPs and competitive Country entry visa A measure of entry visa requirements including 7 tourism services requirements methods of visa issuance Natural resources and 8 biodiversity A measure of a country’s stock of natural assets Attractiveness of A measure of a country’s cultural and creative 9 a destination Cultural and creative resources attractions, activities and events A measure of demand side attractiveness value, 10 Visitor satisfaction based on current and future competitiveness Policy responses and economic A measure indicating effectiveness in assisting to 11 opportunities National Tourism Action Plan improve the competitiveness of tourism (B) Supplementary indicators A measure to capture the broad basis of performance Tourism in several source markets. Countries with a wide performance and range of source markets and a focus on growth impacts Market diversification and markets would receive higher scores than countries 1 growth markets with a narrow market dependency focus Employment in tourism by age, A measure that would assess ability to attract, retain

Ability of a education levels and type of and develop talent in the industry to enable improved 2 destination to contracts competitiveness deliver quality Consumer Price Index for 3 and competitive tourism A complementary measure to others such as PPPs

tourism services Air connectivity and inter- A measure of competitiveness revealed in air routes, 4 modality flight time from main markets and passenger

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No. Measure Indicator Comment numbers

Attractiveness of A measure using a tourism focused version of the 5 a destination OECD Better Life Index index (C) Future Development indicators Ability of a Government budget A measure of national government tourism destination to 1 appropriations for tourism expenditure per capita deliver quality and competitive A measure of the enterprise activity and business 2 tourism Company mortality rate churn Use of e-tourism and other An Index measure on innovation and use of social Policy responses 3 innovative services media in the tourism industry and economic Structure of tourism supply An Index measure of industry thickness, clusters and opportunities 4 chains competitiveness, existing/potential

Source: Indicators for Measuring Competitiveness in Tourism: A Guidance Document, OECD Tourism Papers, 2013/02

World Tourism Organisation has defined inbound tourism as “the activities of the visitor travelling to a place outside his usual environment for not more than one consecutive year and not less than 24 hours. The travel is for leisure, business and not for permanent work and gaining money” while OECD has given a shorter description of the term in “the tourism of non-resident visitors within the economic territory of the country of reference”.

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4 Tourism volume globally

Tourism oriented countries retain high both direct and indirect GDP contribution, creating an efficient mix in their economy. Both direct and indirect economic effect can be quantified. The United Nations Statistics Division (“UNSD”), approved Tourism Satellite Accounting (“TSA”) methodology that processes only the direct contribution of Tourism. Nevertheless a reputable organisation such as WTTC, provides evidence for Tourism's total contribution and aims to shed light on the indirect and induced impacts (World Travel & Tourism Council: Travel & Tourism, Economic Impact 2018).

4.1 Direct contribution to GDP

The direct influence of Travel and Tourism to a country’s GDP mirrors the “internal” outflow on T&T (total expenditure in a specific spending by government on T&T services directly linked to visitors, such as cultural (e.g. museums) or recreational (e.g. National parks). The direct contribution of T&T to GDP derives from total internal spending by deducting the purchases made by the various tourism subsectors. This measure is consistent with the definition of Tourism GDP (“TGDP”) as defined in the 2008 Tourism Satellite.

The total contribution of T&T consists of both the direct and indirect impacts on the economy. The ‘indirect’ contribution includes the GDP and jobs supported by:

Travel and Tourism investment expenditure e.g. the purchase of new aircrafts and the construction of new accommodation is a very significant aspect of current and future investment activity.

“Government 'collective' spending, which helps Travel and Tourism activity in many different ways as it is made on behalf of the Domestic purchases of goods and services by the sectors dealing directly with tourists – including, for example, purchases of food and cleaning services by hotels, of fuel and catering services by airlines, and IT services by travel agents. The “induced” contribution measures the

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GDP and jobs supported by the spending of those who are directly or indirectly employed by the Travel and Tourism industry” (Cumberbatch, 2017).

4.2 Recent Key Facts

In 2017 T&T accounted for 10.4% of global GDP and corresponded to 313mn job positions (9.9% of total employment). The investment decisions combined with the policy applied are usually made with pragmatic evidence.

GDP growth in 2017 was among the strongest within a decade, showing strong consumer spending globally. This global growth was injected into T&T with the sector’s direct growth of 4.6% outpacing the global economy for the seventh successive year. Performance, particularly in Asian continent and also in countries such as Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey that were influenced by terrorist attacks, recover strongly.

T&T has been proven a safe haven for numerous well-known tourism destinations that were harshly impacted by natural catastrophes. The tourism industry already supports c.10% globally and is has the dynamic to increase employment further. Over the past decade, c.20% of all positions created worldwide have been in the sector and if the regulatory conditions are favorable and the government support imminent, it is projected that c.100 million new positions could be created in the future decade (Travel and Tourism world Economic Impact 2018, WTTC).

In the long run, forecast growth of the T&T sector will be continuously vigorous as more and more people are stimulated to travel to be world explorers.

4.2.1 GDP: Direct contribution

The direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP indicates the ‘internal’ spending on Travel & Tourism (total spending within a particular spending by government on

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Travel & Tourism services directly connected with visitors, such as recreational (i.e. national parks) or cultural (i.e. museums).

Consistency with the results as depicted in National Accounting for tourism-related areas like travel agents, airlines, hotel and airports, is important for the calculation of T&T’s direct contribution to GDP. It is calculated as total internal spending minus the purchases from different tourism sectors. This is also consistent with Tourism GDP definition, as defined in Tourist Satellite Accounting (2008): Recommended Methodological Framework.

Total contribution of T&T comprises of “wider impacts” (indirect plus induced) on the economy. The “indirect” contribution contains:

a) T&T investment spending: In this element of current and future activity are included investments like new aircraft purchases and new hotels construction b) Government “collective” spending”: It benefits T&T activity form a different point of view, e.g. in tourism promotion, in aviation, in security services, in resort areas in each of security or sanitation services etc. c) Domestic purchases of goods and services by tourist oriented sectors: Consist of spending by hotels in food / cleaning services, of catering services and fuel by airlines companies and of IT facilities by travel agents.

Induced contribution accounts for the GDP and employment positions sustained by the expenditure of those (directly or indirectly) that are employed in T&T business.

T&T’s direct contribution to GDP reached $2,570 billion in 2017 (3.2% of total GDP), estimated to grow by 4.0% in 2018 (+3.8% pa and touch $3,890 billion for the next ten years) (World Travel & Tourism Council: Travel & Tourism, Economic Impact 2018).

4.2.2 GDP: Total contribution

The total contribution of T&T to GDP (including wider effects from investment, the supply chain and induced income impacts) touched $8,272 billion in 2017 (10.4% of

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GDP) and is expected to grow by 4.0% to $8,604 billion (Figure 4.1) (10.5% of GDP) in 2018 and by 3.8% pa to total $12,450 billion (11.7% of GDP) in 2028.

Figure 4. 1 - Bar Chart of GDP Total Contribution breakdown

14000 12.450 12000

10000 8.605 7.937 8.272 7.298 7.607 8000 6.759 7.018 $ bn $ 6000 4000 2000 0 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018E 2028 Induced Imported goods from indirect spending Government collective spending Capital investment Domestic supply chain Direct Contribution

Source: World Travel & Tourism Council: Travel & Tourism, Economic Impact 2018

Indirect contribution (Figure 4.2) consists of three factors: a) Capital investment: Contains spending by all businesses that are straight involved in T&T. This also includes investments by other businesses focused on particular tourism assets, like accommodation for new visitors, transport equipment for passengers, as well as leisure facilities and restaurants. b) Government collective spending: This is in-line with spending in order to support tourism generally. It may include government spending in national as well as regional and local level, i.e tourism promotion, services for visitor information, administrative services and other. c) Supply-chain effects: Contains spending in domestic products and services directly by diverse industries (within the T&T context) as input to their final tourism yield.

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Indirect contribution topped at $3,854 billion (Figure 4.2) out of which c.66% was attributed to domestic supply chain, indicating heavy investment activity in leisure sector.

Figure 4. 2 - Waterfall Chart of GDP Total Contribution 2017

Indirect Contribution

8.272 $ bn $ 1.430 419 882 444 2.527

2.570

Direct Domestic Capital Government Imported Induced Total Contribution supply chain investment collective goods from Contribution spending indirect spending

Source: World Travel & Tourism Council: Travel & Tourism, Economic Impact 2018

4.2.3 Employment: Direct contribution

2017 has been a year that generated 118,454,000 jobs directly (3.8% of total employment) and is projected to grow by 2.4% in 2018 arriving at a number of 121,356,000. Within this figure is included employment by various industries such as airlines, hotels, travel agents, and other transportation services (excluding services for those who regularly travel between home and work). Additionally it includes Food and Beverage (“F&B”) activities and leisure industries which are directly supported by tourists. By 2028, T&T would extent to 150,139,000 direct employment positions (i.e. a 2.2% growth pa), over the next ten years.

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4.2.4 Employment: Total contribution

Total contribution to employment in 2017, adding occupations indirectly supported by the industry, was 9.9% of total employment (313,221,000 jobs). 2018 is forecasted to arrive at a number of 322,666,000 jobs tracking a rise of 3.0% (accounting for 10.1% of total employment). Over the next decade the growth rate is anticipated to be 2.5% pa thus generating 413,556,000 jobs in 2028 (12.8% GAGR).

4.2.5 Visitor Exports

Money spent by tourists in a country (or visitor exports) is a key element of the direct contribution of T&T. In 2017, in global level was generated $1,494.2 billion in visitor exports. In 2018, the expected percentage of growth is 3.9%, and worldwide it is expected a number of 1,395,660,000 international tourist arrivals. By 2028, international tourist arrivals are forecasted to 2,094,210,000 in total, creating an expenditure of $2,311.4 billion, (an increase of 4.1% pa).

4.2.6 Investment

The capital investment in 2017 attracted $882.4 billion (4.5% of total investment). Thus is expected to rise by 4.8% in 2018 and reach $925 billion (Figure 4.3), and keep up with a pace of 4.3% pa over the next ten years to $1,408.3 billion in 2028 (5.1% of total).

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Figure 4. 3 - Bar Chart of capital investment actual figures and forecasts

2028E … 2018E 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

Capital investment Linear (Capital investment )

Source: World Travel & Tourism Council: Travel & Tourism, Economic Impact 2018

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5 Tourism’s impact in Greece

5.1 Recent Key Facts

Regardless of tourism’s positive aspects in culture, there is significant value added to the country. Below the figures from 2000 and onwards verify tourism’s importance to the economy.

5.1.1 Direct Contribution to GDP

There is constant contribution of average 17% to GDP, for the whole 17-year period under examination, and peaks to 18.6% in 2016 (Figure 5.1), which illustrates a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (“CAGR”) of 0.6% since 2000. Historical lows were observed for the years 2003 (15.9%), 2009 (15.9%) and 2011 (15.8%). Concerning 2003 the country has been in a preparation period to host next year’s Olympic Games which may have influenced traffic due to the heavy and extensive construction works nationwide, as well as the planning to visit Greece the year of the Games. In 2009 there is a 5.4% drop YoY which could be the case of lower volume of tourism connected to the financial crisis in US the previous year which affected Europe as well. In 2011, the economic crisis in Greece took effect, after the Greek government signed a MoU with the EC, the ECB and the IMF and signed on 3 May 2010 an Economic Adjustment Program (“EAP”) a fact that initiated worldwide negative publicity and halted investment activity for almost three years. The positive impact of the Olympic Games was reflected to the touristic traffic though, the year after and lasted till 2010. It is worth mentioning that in tourism industry, for every 1€ of revenue generated the multiplier to GDP accounts for €2.65, having as a result the net addition of €1.65 (SETE Intelligence, The contribution of Tourism to the Greek economy in 2017). Additionally the market mix change, since 2015, towards City Break vacation, contributed to average expenditure per trip reduction but enforced average expenditure per night of stay (Greek Tourism, Developments - Prospects, SETE, 2016).

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Figure 5. 1 - Column Chart of contribution to GDP

19,0 15% 18,5 10% 18,0 17,5 5% 17,0 0% 16,5 16,0 -5% 15,5 -10% 15,0 -15% 14,5 14,0 -20% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Direct cotribution to GDP (%) YoY (%)

Source: SETE

5.1.2 Total contribution to Employment

Tourism has a relative high contribution to GDP This percentage exceeds 20% for the years 2015 and 2016 compared to 17.3% in 2014 (+5.8% rise 2015 vs. 2014) (Figure 5.2). Tourism steadily contributes in employment rate for over 17% each year since 2000. The 6% jump in 2014 is a multi-factor phenomenon attributed to both east Mediterranean-wide political status and stabilization of Greek economy. Greece’s main competitors are Egypt in the south and Turkey in the east. Both have experienced sudden and severe political crisis which led visitors from Scandinavia, West Europe and Russia, the traditionally main clientele tank, to switch destination and visit Greece.

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Figure 5. 2 - Column Chart of total contribution to employment

25 40%

20 30%

15 20% 10% 10 0% 5 -10%

0 -20% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Contribution to EMPLOYMENT(%) YoY (%)

Source: SETE

5.1.3 Arrivals - International

International arrivals in terms of actual numbers have doubled. The 4.7% CAGR rate (Figure 5.3) for the period 2000-2017 is attributed to a number of developments. Some milestones include the operation of Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos ("AIA"), a significant infrastructure project which started to operate on March 28th 2001 with the current capacity to have reached 21,736,466 passengers for 2017 on a yearly basis (an 8.6% increase versus 2016), the Athens Olympic Games hosting event in 2004 and the Eurovision Song Contest hosting in 2006, as outcome of being winning country the year before. The jump after 2013 is correlated to price tag improvements as, after five continuous years of recession Greece was attractive to other European peers and more affordable to source countries.

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Figure 5. 3 - Column Chart of International Tourist Arrivals

25 30%

20 20%

15 10%

10 0%

5 -10%

0 -20% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 International Tourist Arrivals (mn) YoY (%)

Source: SETE

5.1.4 Revenues - International / Domestic

Revenues from international tourism follow increasing trend and a CAGR of 2.0% (Figure 5.4) from 2000 to 2017 and a CAGR of 5.2% from 2011 to 2017. The trend is more intense over the last 3 year period (2015-2017) being extremely sharp in 2016 vs. 2015 (-6.2%). Average spending is impacted due the economic crisis in EU, affecting the disposable income and thus the financial strength of European citizens (a large share of Greece’s clientele), the arrival of low-end tourists with weaker purchasing power, the low cost airlines which make it easier for low budget tourists to travel and the all-inclusive hotels.

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Figure 5. 4 - Column Chart of Revenues from International Tourism

15 20%

10 10%

0% 5 -10%

0 -20% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Revenues from international tourism (€ bn) YoY (%)

Source: SETE

Revenues from tourism per region in Greece are skewed towards southern Greece as the most popular regions are the South Aegean with Cyclades Complex Island to drive the demand accounting with 26% of total revenue share, while Crete Island follows with a share of 23% (Figure 5.5). Although a hub in the recent past with recent developments have transformed to a city break destination attracting weekend tourists, Attica and Central Macedonia region (both benefit from large scale infrastructures under development) show a revenue share of 15% and 13% respectively. Ionian Islands (last place among the top-5 regions) account for 12% as the revenue share.

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Figure 5. 5 - Map of tourism revenues by region in Greece 2017

Source: SETE

5.2 Domestic tourism

Due to lack of extensive data for domestic tourism is not possible the compare directly to the international tourism metrics. However, domestic tourism spending in 2016 (for journeys more than 1 night) accounted for €1,287mn, while in 2015 it was €1,264 million, an increase of 1.8% YoY. An interesting fact is the decline in domestic spending reached €3,160 million in 2008 compared to €1,093 million in 2016. (Table 5.1) Consequently domestic tourism declined by c.66.7%, during the economic crisis (SETE Intelligence The contribution of Tourism to the Greek economy in 2017).

Table 5. 1 – Domestic tourism data of journeys with at least 4 overnight stays

Domestic Tourism 2008 2014 2015 2016 Journeys 6.831.852 3.743.868 3.368.957 3.253.352 Expenditure (€ mn) 3.160 1.138 1.060 1.093 Spent per trip 463 253 261 336 Source: ELSTAT

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With reference to breakdown per purpose of personal trip for the year 2015, the vast majority of domestic travelers lie in vacation category accounting for more than 70% (Figure 5.6), followed by the category paying a visit to relatives. This is normal due to high employment and education facilities concentration in Athens and Thessaloniki, providing opportunities for labour force and students, to move away from the city of initial residence. Lastly a 5.8% travels for health or pilgrim reasons indicating a unexplored market with room for development.

Figure 5. 6 - Purpose of personal trip (2015)

Other (Pilgrim, health etc.) Visiting relative 5,8% and friends 23,6%

Rest, pleasure, vacation 70,6%

Source: ELSTAT

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6 Greek macros, tourism policy and geopolitical events

The Greek economy has experienced an era of economic evolution until 2009. Consequently tourism was a very fundamental sector of the economy, since 2000 and one of the biggest foreign exchange contributors and additionally among the reckless developing economic sectors of the country. In 2017 tourism accounted for 18.3% of its GDP. In line with the economic growth, multiple employment positions were generated by the tourism sector and the related businesses also improved noticeably. In the long run (more than 5Y period) all data provide evidence that KPIs such as a) per capita income of source countries, b) investment levels c) political and economic stability and d) Oil price low volatility are associated with tourism sector development in Greece.

6.1 Macros impacting tourism: Greek figures 2000-2017

Tourism’s growth results to the following benefits as far as economy is concerned: GDP evolution, unemployment drop (unskilled labour force is also included) in the correlated business, accommodation, trade, increasing revenues both in local and state level, foreign investment attraction, development and variety’s promotion in secondary sectors (homegrown crafts, manufacturing and agriculture) and infrastructure improvement. Per capita income of source countries, investment levels and political and economic stability in Greece, as well as stability in the wider region are of fundamental importance as performance determinants of tourism sector.

6.1.1 GDP per capita

The total output of a country calculated by dividing the GDP by the population is the GDP per capita measure. This KPI is especially useful for the comparison between countries, because it demonstrates the relative performance. Per capita GDP is considered as a measure of living standards, therefore a higher per capita GDP is

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translated to a higher standard of living. GDP per capita also indicates the country’s workforce productivity because it measures the total output of products and services per each workforce’s member.

Likewise it does not consider the impact of technology over a worker's output. For example, two countries having a workforce that has an equal measure of per capita GDP, it indicates that both of them have an equal standard of living. Greek GDP per capita topped in 2007 at €22,718 (Figure 6.1) and ever since for a six year period had a declining trend, only to start stabilizing later on.

While for source countries with higher per capital GDP, the Greek pricing for tourism is relative low, in terms of domestic tourism spending, the consumption power deteriorates considerably.

Figure 6. 1 - Column Chart of GDP per capita

25.000 8% 6% 20.000 4% 2% 15.000 0% € -2% 10.000 -4% 5.000 -6% -8% 0 -10% 200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017

Inflation (%) YoY (%)

Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook Database, April 2018

6.1.2 Foreign Direct Investments

“Foreign Direct Investment (“FDI”) is an investment made by a firm or individual in one country into business interests located in another country” (Investopedia). Usually, FDI is valid when an investor starts operating a business or acquires assets of 83

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a business in a foreign country, as well as having ownership or majority interest in that company. FDIs differ from investments in a portfolio in which an investor only buys equities in foreign businesses. Luxemburg is a top holder in Greek assets with average investments of more than €6 billion pa followed by the Netherlands with an average €4.3 billion pa. For the period 2001-2016 the aggregate amount of FDI in Greece by country ranks the three north EU countries in the top 3 holders (Figure 6.2). With the exception of USA (5th place) the top-10 comprises of European countries.

Figure 6. 2 - Column Chart of FDΙs in Greece by country

120.000

100.000

80.000

60.000 mn

€ 40.000

20.000

Italy Japan

-20.000 Spain

Russia

France

U.S.A.

Ireland

Cyprus

Austria

Sweden

Belgium

Germany Denmark

Switzerland

Netherlands

Luxembourg

Liechtenstein

Other countries

United Kingdom United United Arab Emirates United Source: Bank of Greece

Tourism sector offers excellent investment opportunities. Greek portfolio consists of a long coastline of c.16,000 km , a diversity of c.6,000 islands and a well-established tourism industry, placing Greece in a leading position. Greece is considered one of the top global tourist destinations for summer holidays, and also offers various propositions for holidays all year long. The competitive advantages consist of the rich cultural heritage, the natural beauty and geographical diversity, and significant investments regarding tourism have been made in recent years with most recent

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transactions to be Astir Palace and Hilton hotels. Also there are significant efforts of Greek authorities the touristic’ s product update, by targeting in the development of new markets such as Israel, Russia, China and Turkey.

The tourist industry is currently under a very important strategic improvement initiative, which focuses on the following:

 Expansion of the tourist season  High value tourist attraction  Average daily spending increase  New markets

For the years to follow, Greece targets to inflow substantial capital investments in the touristic sector, with the main to emphasis to be given on converting the traditional “sun & beach” product into a number of higher-value and more focused products, emphasizing on the following types of tourism:

I. Thematic (sun and beach): Introduction of specific “themes” like romance / luxury, wellness that add value and to the already successful “sun & beach” concept; II. Nautical: Targeting to attract more cruise liners and spread the yachting / sailing holidays product; III. City break: This initiative is primarily focused in the two major cities of Athens and Thessaloniki; IV. Cultural and religious: Promoting the numerous historical, heritage and religious monuments and museums widespread throughout Greece; V. Medical: An opportunity with great upside potential, by leveraging the expertise of Greek medical staff combined with investments in already well stablished facilities; VI. Meetings and Incentives (“MICE”): The purpose is to place Greece as a major hub for meetings and conferences organized by associations and companies throughout the region; Integrated resorts: The housing of new construction in already established and new tourism destinations to benefit from Integrated Resorts and Holiday

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Housing new legislation (L.4002/2011) that allows non EU citizens to acquire residence permit provided they own at least a €250,000 real estate.

According to Bank of Greece (“BoG”) net FDI inflows during 2017 reached €3,590.5 million, vs. €2,774.2 million during 2016, an increase of 29.4%.

Compared to other countries in EU, FDI inflows in Greece are relatively low and have wavered at even lower levels since 2009. Nonetheless, in 2016 Greece achieved a remarkable performance in foreign investments attraction. More specifically, net FDI flows for 2016 reached €2.8 billion (BoG preliminary data) (an increase of 147% vs. previous year), the largest figure noted since 2008, before the economic crisis commencement. Real estate sector showed a CAGR of 23.3% for the period 2001-2017 (Figure 6.3) being the second sector in terms of investment inflows.

Figure 6. 3 - Column Chart of Foreign Direct Investment in Greece by sector of economic activity

6.000 4.000 2.000 0 -2.000 -4.000

-6.000

Education

Construction

Food Products

OtherServices

Textiles, Wood

Trade repairsand

equipment

Agriculture, Mining

OtherManufacturing

activities

Hotels and restaurants TransportandStorage

activities

Vehicles otherand transport

Refinedpetroleum, chemical

products, pharmaceutical and…

Computer and optical products

Metal mechanicaland products

Informationand communication

Real estateReal activities and private

Electricity, gasand watersupply

Health and socialwork activities

purchases salesand ofrealestate

Financial insuranceand activities

Non Non AllocatedEconomic Activity Recreational, culturalsporting and 2001 2016 Administrative supportand service Professional, scientific and technical

Source: Bank of Greece

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FDI in Greece is driven mainly from the EU countries (Figure 6.3) with the exception of 2014 FDI, out of which a large part sourced from the United States and Canada. In terms of financial investments however, European countries remain as the biggest investors in Greece.

Figure 6. 4 - Column Chart of FDI per country group (2001-2016 average)

343.918 302.450 282.708

Euro-Area EU-28 OECD FDI per countries group

Source: Bank of Greece

6.1.3 Unemployment

A relatively high unemployment rate is often noted during periods of economic recession. The unemployment rate spiked since 2009 hitting a record high in 2013 to 27.5% (Figure 6.5) due to the multiple continuous austerity measures and fiscal reforms imposed by Greece’s official creditors, pressing for more public spending cuts.

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Unemployment is particularly affecting domestic tourism as diminishes the disposable income of people while on the other hand is shifting the labour force into tourism related professions.

Figure 6. 5 - Column Chart of Unemployment rate evolution

30% 27,5% 50% 25% 40% 30% 20% 20% 15% 10% 10% 0% 5% -10% 0% -20% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Unemployment rate (%) YoY (%)

Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook Database, April 2018

6.1.4 Consumer Price Index

The Consumer Price Index (“CPI”) measures the weighted average of prices in a basket of basic goods and services. CPI is calculated by measuring price variations for each item in this basket and averaging them. The variations are mainly related to the cost of living.

Inflation could be considered a concern on the economic activity, and tourism sector also contributes in this concern. Rising tourism prices could be due to: a) tourism demand increase or b) higher production costs. Inflation driven from touristic reasons is generated by escalations in aggregate demand, resulting from the extra financial resources international tourists’ import. If the supply of goods and services in the destination country is less than the increased demand and cannot adapt a supply shortage is created, and the general price level rises. In a tourism spending country, inbound tourism would create a leakage of funds and thus a demand reduction leading

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to a counter inflationary outcome. Supposedly, this fact could result to deflation or lower the inflation (Mihalič, 2002c).

Tourism could also cause cost inflation, if prices increase due to the augmentation of costs. In a labour intensive tourism economy, the greater demand may boost employment in local service industries and accelerate the salary price spiral, as the higher labour costs of production the more easily may be transferred to tourists (in the form of higher prices for tourism services). Furthermore, higher fees and taxes imposed on some tourist products or services would also cause inflation.

Supplementary tourism demand is mainly focused on the supply of services, where the production quantity, could (up to a limit) be swiftly adjusted, tourism may absorb some of the extra demand. This ability is subject to the elasticity of tourism supply and differs based on the type of supply, resources availability as well as the level of activity for current capacities. The same volume of tourism may have a diverse effect on an increase in the quantity produced and price, based on the elasticity of the supply curve.

Greek inflation has stabilized between 3-4% for the years 2000-2007 (Figure 6.6) trying to comply with ECB regulation for an inflation rate of below (but close) to 2%. Inflation in 2010 spiked in 1997 levels only to reach 5.2%, as a result of the higher taxes imposed in consumer product prices, the Value Added Tax (“V.A.T.”) increases, the public transport tickets increase and Public Utility companies’ price increase. From that point onwards there has been steep decline, even deflation for 2013-2014, due to the private spending halt as a result of wage cuts and job positions losses.

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Figure 6. 6 - Column Chart of Consumer Price Index

6% 5,2% 5% 4% 3% 2% 1% 0% -1% -2% -3% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Inflation (%) 3 per. Mov. Avg. (Inflation (%))

Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook Database, April 2018

6.1.5 Annual Wages

Average wage (or salary) is a measure of total income after taxes divided by total number of employees employed. Usually the minimum wage compensation rises at a lower rate than inflation increase, reducing the purchasing power of large part of the labour force. However, increasing pay too dramatically and in a continuous rate can have negative impacts. A continuous rise of the average wage in tourism industry would inflate directly the labour cost and ending to the final product prices and is transferred to consumers. As a consequence, tourism businesses to survive would start cutting service and/or raise prices and thus make them less competitive.

Small independent businesses could be harmed by minimum wage hike. The National Retail Federation (“NRF”) in US found in a survey that a percentage of 37% of small retailers would feel threaten to continue to operate their businesses under a minimum wage of $15 per hour (Effects of Raising Minimum Wage: Theory, Evidence and Future Challenges, 2013).

The effects for different sectors of the tourism industry should differ though. In the short-term, there will be reallocation of resources and workers. Most businesses with no power to for raise prices immediately as they would lose their customers, so they should absorb the wage-hike and experience bottom line losses. Especially small

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business owners will be more negatively affected. In the long-term though, at the equilibrium stage, the prices will be adjusted and transferred to customers so the effect would be more acceptable.

As many of the tourism professions are tip based (e.g. restaurant waitresses or personnel a beach bar, hotel assistant personnel etc.) a minimum wage increase there would not create a robust effect since by law are allowed to pay less than the state minimum wage.

Figure 6. 7 - Column Chart of Average annual wages evolution in Greece

25.000 22.113 15% 20.000 10%

15.000 5%

10.000 0%

5.000 -5%

0 -10% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Average annual wages (€) YoY (%)

Source: OECD

The Purchasing Power Standard (“PPS”) is an artificial currency unit. In theory, one PPS can buy the same amount of goods and services in each country. Nevertheless, price differences among countries mean that different amounts of national currency units are required for the same goods and services from country to country (Eurostat).

Tier 1 countries in terms of purchasing power (Figure 6.8, Group 3), lists 3 includes countries that rank among the top places in terms of arrivals in Greece (Figure 6.8, bars in blue shaded color), accounting for 45.6% of the arrivals (average of the period 2010-2017) (SETE Intelligence, Key figures of Greek Tourism, April 2018).

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Figure 6. 8 - Column Chart of Minimum wages by country, January 2018

1.750

1.500

1.250

1.000

750

500

250

Spain

Malta

Serbia Latvia

France Greece

Poland

Ireland

Turkey

Estonia

Croatia

Albania

Belgium

Slovenia

Slovakia

Bulgaria Portugal

Hungary

Romania

Germany

Lithuania

Netherlands

Luxembourg

United States United

Montenegro (¹) Montenegro

Czech Republic

United Kingdom United Former Yugoslav Republic…Yugoslav Former GROUP 1 GROUP 2 GROUP 3

Source: Eurostat

In 2016 EU residents spent an estimated €428 billion on tourism trips, mostly on trips abroad (55%), while 84% of their tourism expenditure, was spent on trips inside Europe (and 79% inside the EU) (Eurostat).

Although tourism is much appreciated by Europeans is an elastic expenditure. Package holidays account for 0.5% of household expenditures and “restaurant and hotels” category (including spending for night out in the city of residence) of 8.6% in 2016, a decreasing percentage for the period 2009-2011.

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Table 6. 1 - Final consumption expenditure of households by consumption purpose

% of total 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Food 11,2% 11,4% 11,3% 11,3% 11,2% 11,0% 10,9% 10,8% 11,1% 11,3% 11,2% 11,1% 11,2% 11,3% 11,2% 11,1% 11,1% Alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics 4,3% 4,3% 4,3% 4,3% 4,1% 4,0% 3,9% 3,9% 3,8% 4,0% 4,0% 4,0% 4,0% 4,0% 3,9% 3,9% 3,9% Clothing and footwear 5,8% 5,7% 5,7% 5,7% 5,4% 5,3% 5,3% 5,3% 5,1% 5,0% 5,0% 5,0% 4,9% 4,9% 4,9% 4,9% 4,9% Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels 21,9% 22,0% 22,1% 22,1% 22,4% 22,7% 22,9% 22,8% 23,3% 24,2% 24,3% 24,3% 24,8% 25,1% 24,8% 24,7% 24,5% Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance 6,3% 6,2% 6,1% 6,1% 6,0% 5,9% 5,9% 5,8% 5,7% 5,6% 5,6% 5,5% 5,4% 5,3% 5,3% 5,4% 5,5% Purchase of vehicles 4,6% 4,5% 4,4% 4,4% 4,4% 4,3% 4,3% 4,2% 3,8% 3,9% 3,6% 3,5% 3,3% 3,2% 3,4% 3,6% 3,8% Operation of personal transport equipment 6,7% 6,5% 6,5% 6,5% 6,5% 6,7% 6,8% 6,7% 6,9% 6,5% 6,8% 7,1% 7,1% 6,9% 6,8% 6,4% 6,3% Transport services 2,4% 2,4% 2,4% 2,4% 2,4% 2,4% 2,5% 2,6% 2,5% 2,5% 2,5% 2,6% 2,7% 2,7% 2,8% 2,8% 2,8% Communications 2,5% 2,7% 2,8% 2,8% 2,9% 2,9% 2,8% 2,8% 2,8% 2,8% 2,8% 2,7% 2,7% 2,6% 2,5% 2,5% 2,5% Package holidays 0,6% 0,5% 0,5% 0,5% 0,5% 0,5% 0,5% 0,5% 0,6% 0,6% 0,6% 0,6% 0,6% 0,6% 0,6% 0,6% 0,6% Education 0,9% 0,9% 0,9% 0,9% 0,9% 1,0% 1,0% 1,0% 1,0% 1,1% 1,1% 1,1% 1,1% 1,1% 1,2% 1,2% 1,2% Restaurants and hotels 8,1% 8,2% 8,3% 8,3% 8,3% 8,3% 8,3% 8,3% 8,1% 8,1% 8,0% 8,0% 8,1% 8,1% 8,3% 8,4% 8,6% Catering services 6,6% 6,7% 6,8% 6,8% 6,8% 6,8% 6,8% 6,8% 6,7% 6,6% 6,6% 6,6% 6,6% 6,6% 6,7% 6,8% 6,9% Accommodation services 1,5% 1,5% 1,5% 1,5% 1,5% 1,5% 1,5% 1,5% 1,5% 1,4% 1,5% 1,5% 1,5% 1,5% 1,6% 1,6% 1,7% Insurance 2,4% 2,5% 2,4% 2,4% 2,6% 2,7% 2,7% 2,8% 2,6% 2,6% 2,6% 2,6% 2,6% 2,6% 2,6% 2,5% 2,5%

Source: Eurostat, Final consumption expenditure of households by consumption purpose

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6.1.6 Oil Prices

Oil price is a major price determinant for almost every sector of the economy. Travel & Tourism though is highly dependent on transport services, not only regarding arrivals and departures, which already accounts for a large share of the total travel budget, but for operational purposes as well. Oil rises create price adjustments in air tickets, naval tickets and cruises as well as auto fuels.

Especially in Greece, a country vulnerable to energy crisis and highly dependent in oil fuels, due to its special geography (mountainous terrace in main land and many scattered islands) in cases of oil crisis, the cost is transferred directly to pricing. An additional issue for the Greek islands is that oil engines are used in electricity production as there are not interconnected to main land yet. So the multiple effects for Greece particularly have to do with the tickets for tourists (both shipping and air), the more expensive consumer goods arriving in the local market, uplift price for the use of small single engine boats for local fishermen and cruise operators, as well as the car rentals. Average oil prices have been in low levels since the beginning of 2015 (Figure 6.9) with little volatility up to the first months of 2017, but ever since starting an upward trend reaching $80/ barrel.

Figure 6. 9 - Column Chart of average price of Crude oil

140 120 100 80 60 ($/bbl) 40 20

2004M07 2011M01 2000M01 2000M07 2001M01 2001M07 2002M01 2002M07 2003M01 2003M07 2004M01 2005M01 2005M07 2006M01 2006M07 2007M01 2007M07 2008M01 2008M07 2009M01 2009M07 2010M01 2010M07 2011M07 2012M01 2012M07 2013M01 2013M07 2014M01 2014M07 2015M01 2015M07 2016M01 2016M07 2017M01 2017M07 2018M01 ($/bbl) Crude oil, average

Source: World Bank, Commodity Price Data

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6.2 Greek Tourism Policy

Tourism, along with the sectors of Culture, Cultural and Creative Industries, is one of the nine (9) priority pillars of the Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization (“RIS3”).

The creation of a single priority for the “Culture & Tourism and the Cultural & Creative Industries” composite aims at a complete approach to RIS3, interventions and covers a significant part of the Greek economy.

The link between Culture and Tourism is a major national development priority, while at regional level it is emerging as a competitive advantage in almost all the regions of the country.

The main targets of the RIS3 strategy for Culture, Tourism and Cultural & Creative Industries are:

A. Highlighting the added value of innovative science and technology interventions in the field of culture and cultural heritage;

B. The promotion, diffusion and productive integration of open innovation into the activities of the institutions and the economy of modern culture and the cultural heritage, as well as the exploitation of new knowledge;

C. The diversification of economic activities and the reinforcement of new business activity deriving from culture, tourism and the cultural and creative industries around the "inspiration - extroversion" axis;

D. The promotion of the “Culture – Tourism” dipole as a driving force of the country's digital entrepreneurship.

The priorities on which the Research, Technology Development and Innovation (“RTDI”) strategy for Culture - Tourism - the Cultural & Creative Industries is focused, are the following: a. reinforcement of innovation for new products and services b. utilization of innovation infrastructure and services.

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6.3 Geopolitical events

Shocks in politics usually have a small effect outside the heart of the unrest while their effect on leisure sector performance is normally less than that from a recession. Nevertheless, political events consequence is much correlated with the impact of diplomatic travel advisories, publicity and consumer sensitivities. Disturbance on hotel activity normally focusses on places that experience political disorder and protests (Figure 6.10). The effect from political tremors is relatively low in places, considered as distant vacation destinations that enable travelers not to be directly exposed to unrests. For example Thailand, experienced lots of political tremors the last ten years, including coups and military involvement and the temporary shutdown of the International Airport in Bangkok. Every time, the hotel occupancy in Bangkok has fallen at a faster rate versus the national market average, (e.g. resorts in Phuket and Koh Samui) that experienced only minor decreases. The Greek hotel market followed a comparable trend. Back in 2008, Athens experienced widespread riots due to anti austerity protests, leading to decreases in occupancy being more severe in the Athens than in other places on the country. Continuous social turbulence accompanied by austerity measures lead Athens in lower positions until 2013 (three (3) years behind its mains competitive cities in Spain, Portugal and Italy (Madrid, Rome, Barcelona and Lisbon). Meanwhile the effect in resorts was minor. The Gezi Park protests in Turkey followed this pattern. The occupancy percentages in Istanbul deteriorated sharply versus to the regional market in the country. Although continuous protests from Kurdish parties concurred with decline hotel occupancy levels in the Turkish capital, this precedent was credited mainly to the oversupply, as the figures indicated growth in the average rate per room and core demand during that time. A noteworthy exception is Egypt. In 2011, (during the Arab Spring) occupancy levels fell c.30% in the capital as well as in Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh regional resorts (c.39%). Diplomatic travel advisories placed both regional resorts as relative secure places but international publicity indicated extensive regional instability, placing emphasis on Libyan civil war and North African areas protests. On the other hand, United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) were the beneficiaries as the neighboring countries demand was redirected to them, being considered a secure destination (increasing

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occupancy levels by 8.0%). Political instability effects usually vary based on both the real and apparent severity of the occasion. It may seem that regional and domestic travelers are less frightened of sole incidents, but demand in international level is quite sensitive (even in threats) depicted in press publicity and diplomatic travel advisories as well. For example, New York hotels needed c.3 years to return to normal occupancy levels after the 9/11 attack (2001), while the rest of United States sector need c.4 years. This relative longer compared to Spain (Madrid) who needed almost 1 year since 2004 train attack incident, and London that needed 9 months to return to normality after the attack in 2005. The bomb precedent in Boston Marathon and the Lee Rigby murder (an English soldier) in London were of minor effect in terms of occupancy. Another major incident was Charlie Hebdo massacre. While there is no clear data proof, simple observation shows that the impact in hotel market was imminent. There is a change in company and consumer mentality as well. The culture has progressed towards terrorism to a “behave as normal” in order to cease widespread fear in the population.

Epidemics or Pandemics may cause strong impacts but markets recover fast. The impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (“SARS”), Swine flu and Ebola virus on occupancy is usually limited to the areas affected. So far though, the impact worldwide has been rather small. Although pandemics may have more severe effects versus other incidents, the restoration to normality is usually fast. This is contradictory to the stable decrease and long term recovery that accompanies usually economic incidents.

SARS had also relative limited impact in terms of geography. In the United States for example (an important destination for North Asia travelers) Average Daily Rate (“ADR”) and occupancy have decreased after World Health Organisation alert announcements in 2003, and restored normality only three months after. An additional case is the 2009 Swine flu. Mexico City experienced a 50% fall in occupancy for the period from end of April to end of May (beginning) 2009, when Mexico was confirmed to be its origination, and hotels experienced massive cancellations form tour operator due to travelers fears. Nevertheless, in less than a year (early 2010), normality had been restored. 97

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These is because pandemics usually not last for long, and are limited to local areas, there are efficient contingency plans. Though, international cooperation is the cornerstone in order to handle lethal diseases spread.

Figure 6. 10 - Line Chart of political events and demand trends in selected cities globally

Source: The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015

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7 Greece vs. Mediterranean peers

7.1 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index

World Economic Forum (“WEF”) since 2007 issues the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (“TTCI”) every two years to capture the Travel & Tourism (“T&T”) competitiveness. Initially the coverage was in 124 economies (2007) adding twelve more economies in ten years after. The TTCI measures “the set of factors and policies that enable the sustainable development of the T&T sector, which in turn, contributes to the development and competitiveness of a country” (The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017). The Index quantifies the aspects of attractiveness to develop business in the T&T sector on each country, and not a degree of country attractiveness as destination for tourists. The score ranges from 1 to 6 measuring each country’s score in each precise sub-index in 2015. In 2017 there have been some adjustments to the methodology and the approach in some of the indicators calculation used in the TTCI, having as a result some inconsistency in the figures. The overall index comprises of four (4) sub-indexes (Figure 7.1), fourteen (14) pillars, and ninety (90) specific indicators, dispersed between the various pillars (Figure 7.1). It is the most up-to-date tool to quantify and rank the performance of each country, by region and by geographic area.

“Eleni Bournazou”, “Greece: Tourism performance during the financial crisis (2009-2017)”

Figure 7. 1 - Graph of T&T Competitiveness Index 2017 framework

Source: The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017

The regions of Europe and Eurasia are the ones with the highest score on T&T competitiveness, counting 6 economies in the top 10. The most important factors are the cultural richness, the outstanding tourism service infrastructure, the international openness and the apparent safety, despite the marginally deteriorating security sensitivities in the regions of west and south Europe. Substantial gaps are noticeable between sub-regions, including sector prioritization, policies for environmental sustainability and enabling business environment. Enabling environment (Table 7.1) is multi factor metric which involves aspects such as business environment, safety and security, Health and hygiene human resource and labour market and Information and Communication Technologies (“ICT”) readiness (The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017). Greece outperforms the Southern Europe average in

“Health & hygiene” and “Human resource & labour market” pillars.”

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Table 7. 1 - Mediterranean countries rankings 2017 (A)

Enabling Environment Human Global Business Safety & Health & resource & Country/Economy Rank Environment Security hygiene labour market ICT readiness Southern Europe Spain 1 4.4 6.2 6.3 4.9 5.5 Italy 8 3.9 5.4 6.2 4.6 5.4 Portugal 14 4.6 6.3 6.3 5.2 5.2 Greece 24 4.1 5.6 6.6 4.8 4.9 Croatia 32 4.0 6.1 6.4 4.4 5.0 Malta 36 4.7 5.9 6.4 4.8 5.4 Turkey 44 4.5 4.1 5.4 4.3 4.3 Cyprus 52 4.6 5.8 5.8 4.9 4.8 Southern Europe Average 4.4 5.7 6.2 4.7 5.1

Table 7. 2 - Mediterranean countries rankings 2017 (B)

Natural and T&T policy & enabling conditions Infrastracture cultural resources Air Groun Prioriti Intern Environ transop d and Tourist Natur Cultural zation ational Price mental rt port service al resources Country/ of openne competi sustaina infrastr infrastr infrastr resou & business Economy T&T ss tiveness bility ucture acture acture rces travel Southern Europe

Spain 5.9 3.9 4.5 4.5 5.0 5.2 6.7 4.9 6.9 Italy 4.5 4.1 3.9 4.5 4.4 4.7 6.0 4.8 6.5 Portugal 5.5 4.2 4.8 4.3 3.9 4.2 6.4 3.9 3.9 Greece 5.5 4.1 4.7 4.5 4.3 3.7 5.7 4.1 3.1 Croatia 4.5 4.2 4.4 4.7 3.0 3.9 6.3 4.5 2.8 Malta 6.2 4.0 4.4 4.1 3.9 4.5 5.5 3.1 1.5 Turkey 4.3 3.9 4.9 3.7 4.7 3.5 4.7 3.0 4.1 Cyprus 5.7 3.8 4.3 4.0 3.1 3.7 5.6 2.9 1.8 Southern Europe Average 5.3 4.0 4.5 4.3 4.0 4.2 5.9 3.9 3.8

Source: The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017

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7.2 Greece

Greece as a country based on T&T (7.6% of GDP) has done a worth mentioning effort resulting in the 24th place in the global list. This performance is connected to Greece’s excellent efforts to take advantage of its natural resources portfolio (32nd place), directly, via a robust digital demand (19th place) as well as indirectly, through protecting the environment (39th place) and marketing (43rd place). Meanwhile price competitiveness has improved significantly (90th place) as a result of the decreasing accommodation cost for international tourists, the lower fuel cost, the declining ticket taxes as well as airport charges. That policy mix has contributed into the generation of additional international arrivals, but on the other hand has created ambiguous results in terms of revenues. It is noted that the arrivals increase is not followed by revenue increase and this should be attributed as a matter of friendly business environment (103rd place), with smaller obstructions to FDIs, condensed taxation to profits and improved efficiency on system legislation. Also on a tech savvy environment, Greece lacks ICT readiness (51st place). So far, Greek businesses are not heavy new technologies users for Business-to-Business (“BtB”) (98th place) and Business-to- Customer (“BtC”) (82nd place) transactions. Although implemented, visa policy improvement (73rd place) is an additional initiative that could boost income and international arrivals with relative small investment required.

7.3 Spain

Spain, one of the Tier 1 European countries in terms of tourism competiveness and a direct competitor to Greece, achieved the 1st place worldwide regarding competitiveness. This accomplishment could be credited to the exceptional mix of resources (2nd place in cultural and 9th place in natural), integrated with significant infrastructure on services (2nd place), well established connections for air transport (9th place) as well as robust policy support (5th place). The country’s T&T segment has gained from recent ﬁscal policy easing and by the volume of tourists redirected from Middle East and Western Europe, mostly affected for safety reasons. These occasional changes however, do not diminish the country’s ability to provide an ideal

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background for the T&T sector to develop. Key challenges have to do with further developments given that the sector is already mature. While the transportation is placed in the top 15 economies some indications of initial drop have appeared, suggesting that expectations for potential upgrades are to appear shortly. Additionally there is room for improvement in the business environment (75th place), as construction permits procedure remains burdensome (104th place), as well as for international openness (43rd place).

7.4 France

France and specifically South France competes with the other countries of the Mediterranean. The country is constantly ranked 2nd, despite some negative effects that followed the attacks of 2015 and 2016. The consequences of terrorism resulted in losing five places on the sub index of safety and security. However the international arrivals have stayed intact. Its cultural resources (3rd place), its ground transportation (7th place) and air connections (13th place) hold France’s T&T competitiveness. Deteriorations in security and in natural resources usage (13th place, down 5 places) have been mitigated by a noteworthy discount in hotels prices and ticket taxes, leading to a progress in terms of price competitiveness gaining 21 places. The country has managed to improved its environmental sustainability (17th, up 6 places), as the country minimized the environmental footprint of the sectoral activity. Although France has reduced T&T revenue the past couple of years, it has managed to reinforce its T&T competitiveness fundamentals. In that way its tourism has become significantly more resilient to external events and is already prepared to develop more in the future.

7.5 Italy

Italy was ranked in the 8th place despite its ambiguous performance. Italy’s T&T competitiveness is led by its cultural (5th place) and natural resources (12th place) and well established infrastructure for tourism (11th place). In 2015, the international

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arrivals exceeded 50 million which is a milestone for the country. Improvements were noted, in ground infrastructure (22nd place), in human resources as there are more qualified and easier to manage (67th place), as well as in price competitiveness (124th). Nonetheless, T&T sector prioritization has fallen (75th place), due to lack of government commitment (74th place) and brand strategy weakness (75th place). The category of Safety and security has also declined (70th place) led by smaller perceptions of police reliability and greater terrorism fears. Business environment remained weak (121st place) with no significant improvement on the slow administrative procedures for construction permits (114th place), an inefficient legal framework (134th place) and taxation for businesses (125th place).

7.6 Egypt

Egypt ranks 74th nine positions up versus 2015, being the weaker party of the peer group. While is still recovers, in 2015 attracted c.9 million international tourists, a higher number since the pre-financial crisis, but c.5 million below of its 2010 peak (before the Arab Spring). Egypt has improved environment in order to return to normality that almost doubled the size of the sector for the ten years from 2000 to 2010. Among the main drivers of the country’s performance have been the increase of support from the government (37th place) -including a 6.8% commitment of the total budget for tourism- as well as cultural resources enforcement (22nd place) to be used for country image rebuilding. Moreover, Egypt is among the top 3 price competitive destinations (2nd place) while and has eased visa policy restrictions (51st place). Security concerns (terrorism in particular) are an issue for travelers and a big challenge (130th place) for Egypt. Currently the country is setting the ground for policies improvements to enforce its competitiveness, which may probably pickup into bigger T&T development as soon as there is stability in political situation.

7.7 Turkey

Turkey the most direct competitor to Greece, in terms of location and resources (practically the country sells Aegean Sea west coastline) was placed in the 44th 104

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position. T&T competitiveness is determined by its cultural (16th place) and its air transport infrastructure (14th place) as a result of having built a critical mass in terms of available seat kilometers, both domestic and international. In 2017, international arrivals were c.40 million. But significant backdrop has been reported in safety and security (116th place), as an effect to 2016 coup and generated fears of terrorism and crime, and in human resources less qualified and difficult to manage (94th place) while the competitive prices rank (70th place). Still, the prioritization of the T&T sector has fallen (87th place), as a result of government strategy for savings on T&T sector (132th place) and weaker brand strategy (115th place). Business environment is low (63rd place) without significant improvements on efﬁciency of legal framework in challenging regs (116th place), the expensive business cost (98th place) and business taxation (85th place).

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8 Conclusion

After a thorough examination of the Tourism market in a global level, European and National level it could be stated that Tourism is a complex structure with tourists as ultimate beneficiaries. It is also a fundamental source of income for many economies worldwide (both developed and developing) and among the main reasons for people to be mobilized.

Greece as one of the economies with long term reliance on Tourism, benefits from both a diverse rich natural resources terrace as well as its geography, linking two worlds, East and West. The 2009 economic crisis commencement and the halt in public spending and consumption reduction impacted deeply every sector in the economy, including Tourism. Note that Greece is vulnerable to external economic factors and located in a region with frequent political turmoil.

Nevertheless the impact has been relative lower for this sector of the economy, as all KPIs slowed down for only two to three years, and started increasing again reaching new heights every year since 2013.

A new clearer more focused strategy with change in marketing mix and season extension, cultural projects of international recognition, numerous infrastructure projects have been completed, substantial investments in the hospitality sector and the halt of competitive markets like Turkey and Egypt, are factors that contributed to this progress.

Despite the positive trends the future of Greek Tourism maybe ambiguous as all this optimism could turn upside down if the direct competitive markets pick up. In order to be more well positioned all the pending ongoing infrastructure projects (energy and transport) should speed up, extent the tourism season by making the Tourism attractive product off-season and keep on targeted promotion based on Greece’s competitive advantages.

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