Activity Slow for Greece’s Small Accommodation Facilities, Says SETKE

Activity at Greece’s small and medium-sized accommodation facilities is slow as Covid-19 continues to affect intent for travel, said the Greek Confederation of Tourist Accommodation Enterprises (SETKE) on Monday.

According to SETKE, the tourist season this year is considerably “hazy” with small tourist accommodation facilities expecting occupancy to reach 30 to 40 percent of pre-pandemic 2019 levels. SETKE said it rules out the possibility of higher projections.

At the same time, the association is stressing that demand is not uniform across Greece. SETKE referred to the example of Northern Greece, which caters to tourists from Balkan countries and which is outperforming other destinations set to achieve no more than 40 percent of 2019 levels.

“The tourist year could be characterized as ‘unstable’ and ‘uncertain’ with the epidemiological data and the new mutations of the coronavirus largely determining the course of Greek tourism,” the association said in a statement.

SETKE continues to note that the UK’s decision to lift lockdown restrictions on July 19 and open its market was crucial to tourism developments in Greece. It should be noted that the UK on August 2 began to allow restriction-free travel for the fully vaccinated from EU and US.

Meanwhile, the Russian market, which is still absent, and last-minute demand will define the season, the association added.

In view of the developments, SETKE is calling on the government to extend new targeted support and financial tools to member enterprises in order to create a “strong safety net for businesses in the coming months and, most importantly, in the coming winter season”.