By Lila Chotzoglou

 

The Tourism Ministry's strategy is focused on establishing Greece as a sustainable destination, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni stated in the international tourism exhibition ITB in Berlin.

 

Kefalogianni projected that 2025 will be an "extremely good year" for tourism. She also underlined that sustainability is the most important factor in the ministry's future strategy.

 

"Greece is a destination with a reputation, prestige and maturity. The messages from the tourism market for 2025 are highly positive, but the most important thing is that the big players in the tourism market do not see Greece as a tourist destination only for next year, but want to invest in Greece in the long term," she said.

 

The minister also referred to the challenges of the sector, such as the extension of the tourist season, the promotion of new destinations and experiences and the sustainability of Greece as a tourist destination.

 

Positioning Greece as a sustainable and resilient destination

 

"We have the support of all partners in the tourism market," Kefalogianni noted and expressed her belief that 2025, which she estimated will be an exceptionally good year, "will be another step towards our strategy for making Greece a sustainable, resilient, competitive destination that delivers the maximum for the Greek economy and Greek society."

 

Kefalogianni stressed that the Greek government's planning "has to do precisely with how we will render tourism sustainable so that it can support local economies and societies as well as the national economy, while preserving the country's natural and cultural wealth."

 

Tourism vulnerable to geopolitical developments

 

Responding to a question regarding the impact of geopolitical developments on tourism, Kefalogianni acknowledged that tourism is a sector vulnerable and sensitive to geopolitical developments, but stressed at the same time that Greece has proven that it responds with absolute adequacy and effectiveness to all crises as it has established itself as a resilient destination, competitive and safe for its visitors.

 

"This is the message we want to maintain for the coming year, but also for the years to come, along with the great challenge of sustainability," she said, expressing the hope that the geopolitical situation will lead to solutions that will bring peace and allow some of the markets that have been affected in recent years to recover.

 

Kefalogianni also said that the ministry is promoting new trends for tourism related to nature, wellness, diving, and mountaineering, among others.

 

 

Cruise sector seen recording positive performance in 2025

 

The cruise market is expected to register a rather positive performance in 2025.

 

More specifically, according to estimates by industry executives, a 5.4% increase in passengers is expected compared to 2024.

 

The honorary president of the Association of Cruise Ship Owners and Maritime Agencies, Theodoros Kontes, told Naftemporiki that the total cruise tourist flow amounted to 5.06 million visitors in a total of 4,800 cruise ship arrivals in 2023, while the forecast for 2024 is for 5.55 million passengers and approximately 5,080 arrivals, thus reaching the levels of 2019, the record year before the pandemic, but with a significantly lower number of arrivals.

 

For the year 2025, a further increase in traffic is expected and the forecast is for approximately 5.8 million passengers in total, in 5,290 ship arrivals.

 

Kontes stated that there is now an increase in small and medium-sized cruise ships in the Greek maritime area. Referring to the increase in cruise port fees for the high season in the ports of destinations with high traffic, such as Mykonos and Santorini, he said that this will burden each passenger-tourist by 20 euros, while in the remaining ports the fee per passenger will rise to 5 euros.

 

He estimated that port fee revenues will exceed 40 million euros and that they should be properly invested in the various destinations to improve services and infrastructure for visitors.

 

He also pointed out that the correct method of carrying capacity per destination should be implemented in our country this year, in order to avoid overtourism and improve infrastructure and services for ships and passengers.