Greek Destinations are Vulnerable to Changes and Digitally Lagging, Shows EU Tourism Dashboard

Greek tourism destinations may be among EU’s best for their bathing waters but are digitally lagging and vulnerable to future changes, according to data provided by the European Commission’s EU Tourism Dashboard.

Launched in October, the new digital tool aims to profile and monitor the progress EU countries make towards policy objectives that are organized under three pillars: environmental impacts, digitalization, and socio-economic vulnerability.

Environmental Impact

Greece hits almost a perfect score (98.65) for its bathing waters between EU’s 27 member states but the data also shows that its tourism is heavily dependent on distant international markets, an indicator that implies a potentially higher environmental footprint due to long-distance travelling.

Source: EU Tourism Dashboard.

Spain, Italy and France are closer to the EU average (12.42 percent) while countries like Croatia is only 6.67 percent dependent on distant international markets compared to Greece’s 29.94 percentage of dependence.

Greece ranks last in the “share of trips by train” indicator that measures the relative importance of sustainable means of transportation within a tourism destination, according to the Tourism Dashboard. Spain and Portugal also fair below EU’s average while Switzerland gets the coveted 1^st place in this list with 31.42 percent, three times EU’s average.

Digitalization

Source: EU Tourism Dashboard.

Greece’s average internet speed at tourism destinations is among the EU’s lowest at 47.8 Mb/s. Spain, France, Portugal and Croatia meet or exceed EU’s 75.4 Mb/s average while Italy takes last spot in this indicator category.

Only one third of Greek tourism enterprises use two or more social media, just below EU’s average of 42.01 percent. Spain and Cyprus are among EU’s top 10 with more than half their tourism businesses running two or more active social media accounts.

Socio – Economic Vulnerability

Tourism seasonality remains high in Greece “revealing unbalanced pressure and economic activity, as well as vulnerability to demand shocks”, according to the e-tool. Croatia, Italy, Cyprus and France also score over EU’s average indicating a need to implement strategies that can positively affect the socio-economic resilience of tourism.

Tourists’ average money spending in Greece are among EU’s highest at 105.64 PPS (Parity Purchasing Standards) / per night, but its tourist diversity is among Europe’s weakest, making its tourism less resilient.

Source: EU Tourism Dashboard.

The EU Tourist Dashboard’s current findings are based on available data collected between 2019 and 2021 from trusted sources.

Through the dashboard, decision makers are able to use its data in order to develop effective tourism strategies on a national or regional level.