Op-Ed: ‘Greek Sea Tourism will Emerge Stronger from the Crisis’ – Stavros Katsikadis

The Greek Travel Pages (GTP) has provided a podium for Greece’s key tourism figures to share their vision for the day after the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The unprecedented crisis brought on by the pandemic over the past year caused human losses, fear and financial pressure to many businesses. The negative impact on our country’s tourism was especially strong. However, thanks to the efforts of scientists and health professionals, it appears that we will soon have overcome the problem and returned to normalcy in our daily lives.

Greek Sea Tourism will recover on all levels. In fact, it will emerge from the crisis even stronger.

The tools of the digital transition that businesses were forced to use, digitalisation of public-sector systems and procedures, and the establishment of procedures for remote communication and control can and must be used to reduce bureaucracy and modernise productive activities.

The Greek Marinas Association, as the official representative of our country’s touristic port sector, has throughout this time supported its members and the State, contributing to the effort to manage the crisis in the yachting sector and ports of Greece. In collaboration with Civil Protection and the competent public health authorities, Greek marinas throughout the country ensured smooth operation, safe mooring of yachts and implementation of quarantines on yachts whenever necessary.

They implemented crisis-management plans by taking financially damaging measures, such as closing restaurants and cancelling reservations of incoming yachts, also losing revenue from yachts barred from sailing to Greece. But they continued to operate without interruption, fulfilling their purpose and honouring their commitment to Greek Sea Tourism.

But beyond this main purpose, the Greek Marinas Association helped meet the needs of society, supporting remote education at public schools, in partnership with the Ministry of Education. In fulfilment of its institutional role, it is continuing to collaborate with the Tourism Ministry to chart the sector’s strategic growth and upgrade marinas with infrastructure and high-quality services.

We embark with optimism on this year’s summer season and hope that the yachting sector’s recovery will surpass our expectations.”

* This Op-Ed originally appeared in the Greek Travel Pages (GTP) annual printed edition for 2021. Press here for more information.