Georgios A. Tsakiris, President Hellenic Chamber of Hotels

Philoxenia 2013 greeting.

The tourism season has already been completed, a season for which the high expectations set for Greece’s tourism performance seem to have been verified.

Undoubtedly this year, our country as a tourist destination, worked better, more efficiently and consistently and placed itself in a much better spot than last year, in terms of the destination’s international image and attractiveness.

At the same time, everyone in Greece now recognizes that tourism is the sector of the economy and that its activity could support the country and lead the country’s economy out of the crisis.

This recognition is perhaps the most important asset that can enable Greek tourism to convince the government and the society of the need for the sector’s discretionary support so it could cope with the ever-growing international competition.

In an international tourism environment, of fierce competition, the need to improve infrastructure and offered services, in connection with the upgrade and enrichment of the tourism product with attractive and innovative sub-products, is a prerequisite of survival for the industry and the country itself.

Bearing all this in mind, I believe that 2013 was a highly successful tourism year that creates real hope for a continued good progress in 2014.