116 Posts in Tourism

The museum, one of the most visited in the world, has been dealing with the aftermath of thefts which highlighted internal failings and led to the exit of its director. “We have taken steps to improve security and are now confident that a theft of this kind can never happen again,” the British Museum’s interim director, Mark Jones, said in a statement. “But we cannot and must not assume that the security of the collection, in a wider sense, can be achieved simply by locking everything away. It is my belief that the single most important response to the thefts is to increase access.”   The announcement came as the museum’s Chair George Osborne was being questioned by parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport committee on how the thefts had happened and what steps were being taken to make sure they could not happen again. The museum sacked a member of staff over the incident, which is also being investigated by London’s Metropolitan Police. The proposed digitization project would take 5 years, with 2.4 million records to upload or upgrade. Its collection totals at least 8 million objects according to the museum’s website

All they need is a smartphone. Visitors can now pinch and zoom their way around the ancient Greek site, with a digital overlay showing how it once looked. That includes a collection of marble sculptures removed from the Parthenon more than 200 years ago that are now on display at the British Museum in London. Greece has demanded they be returned. For now, an app supported by Greece’s Culture Ministry allows visitors to point their phones at the Parthenon temple, and the sculptures housed in London appear back on the monument as archaeologists believe they looked 2,500 years ago. Other, less widely known features also appear: Many of the sculptures on the Acropolis were painted in striking colors. A statue of goddess Athena in the main chamber of the Parthenon also stood over a shallow pool of water. “That’s really impressive ... the only time I’ve seen that kind of technology before is at the dentist,” Shriya Parsotam Chitnavis, a tourist from London, said after checking out the app on a hot afternoon at the hilltop Acropolis, Greece’s most popular archaeological site. “I didn’t know much about the (Acropolis), and I had to be convinced to come up here. Seeing this has made it more interesting — seeing it in color,” she said. “I’m more of a visual person, so this being interactive really helped me appreciate it.” The virtual restoration works anywhere and could spare some visitors the crowded uphill walk and long wait to see the iconic monuments up close. It might also help the country’s campaign to make Greek cities year-round destinations. Tourism, vital for the Greek economy, has roared back since the COVID-19 pandemic, even as wildfires chased visitors from the island of Rhodes and affected other areas this summer. The number of inbound visitors from January through July was up 21.9% to 16.2 million compared with a year ago, according to the Bank of Greece. Revenue was up just over 20%, to 10.3 billion euros ($10.8 billion). The app, called “Chronos” after the mythological king of the Titans and Greek word for “time,” uses augmented reality to place the ancient impression of the site onto the screen, matching the real-world view as you walk around. AR is reaching consumers after a long wait and is set to affect a huge range of professional and leisure activities. Medical surgery, military training and specialized machine repair as well as retail and live event experiences are all in the sights of big tech companies betting on a lucrative future in immersive services. Tech giant like Meta and Apple are pushing into VR headsets that can cost thousands of dollars. The high price tag will keep the cellphone as the main AR delivery platform to consumers for some time, said Maria Engberg, co-author of the book “Reality Media” on augmented and virtual reality. She says services for travelers will soon offer a better integrated experience, allowing for more sharing options on tours and overlaying archive photos and videos. “AR and VR have been lagging behind other kinds of things like games and movies that we’re consuming digitally,” said Engberg, an associate professor of computer science and media technology at Malmo University in Sweden. “I think we will see really interesting customer experiences in the next few years as more content from museums and archives becomes digitized,” she said. Greece’s Culture Ministry and national tourism authority are late but enthusiastic converts to technology. The popular video game Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, which allows players to roam ancient Athens, was used to attract young travelers from China to Greece with a state-organized photo contest. Microsoft partnered with the Culture Ministry two years ago to launch an immersive digital tour at ancient Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games in southern Greece. Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said the innovations would boost accessibility to Greece’s ancient monuments, supplementing the recent installation of ramps and anti-slip pathways. “Accessibility is extending to the digital space,” Mendoni said at a preview launch event for the Chronos app in May. “Real visitors and virtual visitors anywhere around the world can share historical knowledge.” Developed by Greek telecoms provider Cosmote, the free app’s designers say they hope to build on existing features that include an artificial intelligence-powered virtual guide, Clio. “As technologies and networks advance, with better bandwidth and lower latencies, mobile devices will be able to download even higher-quality content,” said Panayiotis Gabrielides, a senior official at the telecom company involved in the project. Virtual reconstructions using Chronos also cover three other monuments at the Acropolis, an adjacent Roman theater and parts of the Acropolis Museum built at the foot of the rock.  

More specifically, passenger traffic totaled 3,006,870 in September, up 16.3% from the same period in 2022 and up 11.8% from the corresponding month in 2019. Domestic and international traffic exceeded 2022 levels by 14.6% and 17.2%, respectively, while compared with September 2019, domestic and international traffic was up 16.3% and 9.9%, respectively. Domestic passenger traffic was 943,924, while international traffic was 2,063,746 passengers. In the January-September period, passenger traffic was 21.68 million, up 25.7% from the same period last year and up 8.6% from 2019. Domestic and international passenger traffic was up 20.3% and 28.3% compared with 2022 and up 11.3% and 7.3% from 2019. These figures justify a forecast that 2023 will be a record year for the Athens airport, with passenger traffic expected to surpass 26 million. The number of flights totaled 186,174 in the January-September period, up 12.9% frm 2022 and up 5.1% from 2019.

  DG EOT, D Fragakis: The tourist year is developing exceptionally well     In his intervention at APE-MPE, the general secretary of the EOT Dimitris Fragakis notes that "despite the structural problems that are common to the sector internationally (e.g. lack of staff, inflationary pressures) but also the unexpected that arose in Greece (fires, etc.) , the tourism year is developing exceptionally well. 2023, he explains, is the first "normal" year for Greek tourism after 3 extremely difficult years. In this light, we should also judge the performance of our tourism this year," he adds.     Focusing on the tourism figures of 2023, Mr. Fragakis states that "we have an increase in air arrivals throughout the country but also an increase in travel receipts at least for the first half of the year for which we have secure data. July and August also moved accordingly as Greece has proven to be one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world. Consequently, it is a very good year without overlooking the individual differences in the performance of some of our destinations, but in any case we will "cash out" at the end of the year."     POX President G.Tassios: It is a given that there will be the income of 2019, but there are also estimates that speak of income of the order of 20 billion euros.     Regarding the development of this year, the president of the Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers Grigoris Tasios tells APE-MPE that the season may have started numbly due to the weather conditions in May, however the summer months started with very high occupancy in the hotels, which was maintained until August 31. "Despite the great competition of the Mediterranean, Greece showed a very good image this year which has been maintained until now. It is typical that September moves with an average occupancy of 70%, while October will also do well in turn", emphasizes Mr. Tasios.     Focusing on the regions that are starring in this period, Mr. Tassios underlined that the destinations dominated by the mass model still magnetize foreign visitors. South Aegean, Ionian and Halkidiki are the geographical areas where visitor arrivals will be recorded until the end of October.     "As far as 2023 revenues are concerned, Mr. Tassios is clear: "It is a given that there will be 2019 revenues, but there are also estimates that speak of revenues of around 20 billion euros. But that remains to be seen", notes the president of POX.     Greece, in the difficult tourist year of 2023, as it is characterized by the natural disasters in Rhodes, managed to show good reflexes in terms of managing the situation after the fire, underlined Mr. Tassios. In support of the above is the fact that Rhodes lost a total of 10 days on the island, as far as the tourist season is concerned, while now we are talking about a full recovery, as was emphasized.     As far as the fund of hotel companies is concerned, the president of POX expressed his anxiety about how their operating income will be shaped at the end of the year, which, as he explained, will be affected by the launch of the food chain but also from the rise in lending rates.     An additional factor that deprives the coffers of hotel companies remains the flourishing of short-term rentals in Greece, with Mr. Tassios stating that he expects this year to finally enter, as he says, a framework for their operation. It is characteristic that this year the large arrivals at the country's airports were not accompanied by a corresponding increase in hotel overnight stays.     Looking ahead to next year, when, as is well known, hotel units are already signing contracts with international tour operators, Mr. Tassios expresses his optimism for 2024 as well. Explaining the above finding, Mr. Tassios notes the as follows: "And next year will be a year oriented towards organized travel (a travel package that will include an air ticket and a hotel). This favors us to be optimistic about next year", says the president of POX. Crete: More than 2019 revenues and arrivals in 2023     As regards the flagship of Greek tourism, Crete, the island with the most arrivals, the season developed with very good occupancy, as the president of the Heraklion Hoteliers' Union, Nikos Chalkiadakis, reports to APE-MPE, pointing out that even in September the occupancy in the hotels of Crete reaches 90%. In any case, the tourism figures that Crete will achieve this year will surpass those of 2019, while the curtain for this season will fall at the end of October.     Mr. Chalkiadakis in his intervention focuses on the high costs that will affect the profitability of hotel units. In fact, he talks about a 15% increase in wage costs, a 35% increase in food costs, but also a significant increase in interest rates, which will affect all businesses that have loans.     In the meantime, the president of the Hoteliers' Union of Heraklion, emphasizes that the answer to the above is not the increase in room prices. It is characteristic that this year the five-star hotels in Elounda moved with 60% occupancy, a consequence of the high room rates.     How is the season progressing for Athens this year?     Athens plays a decisive role in the development of the tourist season as a whole in the country. It is characteristic that in the 7 months of 2023, the average occupancy in hotels appears at 75.4%, increased by 19.2%, compared to the occupancy of the corresponding period of 2022, but still maintains the negative sign of -2.1% in comparison with the corresponding period of 2019. The same applies to the average room price/ADR, which from 175.83 euros in June 2023, fell to 165.94 euros in July 2023, but also to the revenue per available room / RevPar which from 163.79 euros in June this year, fell to 148.30 euros in July 2023.     Mykonos: Extends the tourist season and makes up for losses     Mykonos seems to be winning the bet of extending the tourist season, in contrast to the small percentage reductions shown by arrivals during the first months of the tourist season. Combined with the income, the trend shows that it maintains its qualitative characteristics, as demonstrated by the figures that follow and published by the municipality of the island.     As the island's mayor Konstantinos Koukas points out to APE-MPE, according to official data, there has been an increase in arrivals to Mykonos since the beginning of the year, compared to last year. In addition, as everything shows, these will continue at the same pace in the following autumn months. This means that overall the tourist season will be better than last year despite the temporary, minimal, declines in the peak months that gave the false impression that traffic is not satisfactory.     Mykonos remains a stable pillar of support for our national economy and a leading international tourist destination with international recognition mainly in the American market from where, especially this year, the presence of visitors was evident, while the course from Latin America, Europe and Arab countries was and remains stable thanks to and the many direct flights, always with what the mayor of the island emphasizes.

The Group offered 22% more seats following its network expansion, bringing an even higher increase of 28% in passenger traffic and welcoming 4.1 million passengers from 3.2 million in Q2-22. Load factor reached 82.6% from 79.2% in Q2-22. Network expansion with the addition of 16 new international routes, as well as increased frequencies to destinations in Italy, Spain, Germany, Scandinavia, Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, markets where demand has recovered significantly, contributed to the Group’s strong performance. More specifically, strong demand in Q2-23, network expansion and ongoing fleet investment, led to a 42% increase in passenger traffic in H1-23 vs H1-22, with the Group carrying 6.7 million passengers in total in H1-23, while offering 8.2 million available seats, 28% more compared with H1-22. Ongoing fleet investments and efficient cost management despite inflationary pressures led to achieve an EBITDA growing 3.7 times higher, to 139.5 million euros from 37.7 mil in H1-22. Pre-tax Profit reached 48.7 million euros compared to a pre-tax Loss of 30.6 million in H1-22.During the first half of 2023, Aegean proceeded with the full repayment of loans drawn during the pandemic (68.5 million euros). Moreover, it fully repaid a finance lease contracted in 2020 for an A321 neo aircraft, while one new A320neo aircraft delivery from Airbus was purchased in cash. Cash and cash equivalents increased by almost 200 million euros at 30.06.2023 vs 31.12.2022, due to strong operating cash flow, following high pre-bookings for the summer period, despite loan and finance leases repayments and capex. Mr. Dimitris Gerogiannis, Aegean’s CEO, commented: "Our performance in H1 2023 confirmed the consistent implementation of our targets in an environment of strong demand and intense competition. We are presenting exceptionally strong results stemming from network expansion and increased capacity following new aircraft deliveries, while at the same time, cost discipline and continuous upgrade of our services and product further enhance our competitiveness."

In an interview, Mendoni said a limit of 20,000 visitors to the Acropolis per day was based on a report by the Management and Development of Cultural Resources Organization, which suggested the limit to prevent congestion and protect the ancient and iconic site. The minister said the report took into account the amount of time visitors spent at the site and aimed at providing a constant flow of visitors and preventing bottlenecks at the entrance especially during the morning hours, when the highest traffic to the Parthenon occurs. "The purpose is to avoid the congestion that used to occur up to yesterday, as 50% of visitors want to go up to the Acropolis between 08:00 and 11:00," the culture minister said. The new online-based system keeps track of the number of visitors, providing a cut off once a zone has already filled its alloted number of visitors. "The current open hours from 08:00 to 20:00 have been divided into 12 visiting zones," Mendoni said, referring to the extended schedule during summer. "Every zone has a specific number of allowed visitors. For example, the 08:00-09:00 zone allows 3,000 people; it will not allow 3,000 + 1. This means that visitors have a greater opportunity for the right touring and enjoyment of this major monument," she added. The new system will provide a constant flow and prevent congestion both at the site and at the entrance, where a bottleneck often occurred.  Mendoni said that from July to early September, Cultural Resources Organization and archaeology officials of the Athens Ephorate had met with tourism officials and guides to brief them and give them time to adjust to the new procedure.

The closure of the Samaria gorge in southwest Crete — along with several others in the White Mountain range — was ordered Monday, a day after the region was rattled by a magnitude 4.9 quake. The tremblor triggered the evacuation of more than 600 people Sunday along the 16-kilometer (10-mile) Samaria hiking trail. A 45-year-old Spanish hiker was transported by helicopter to a state hospital in the port city of Chania, where he remains in critical condition after part of his right leg was amputated, doctors said. Regional government authorities, based in Chania, were due to decide later Monday whether the closure would be extended through Wednesday, a public holiday. Part of a nature reserve, the Samaria Gorge is open to visitors for six months annually, starting in May, and is closed during bad weather.

Traffic to the ports of Attica increased over the weekend, while capacity on ships nearly reached 100%. According to the ship companies' reservation system, 24 ships are leaving the country's main port of Piraeus on Sunday, carrying at least 29,585 passengers. In addition, another 33 sailings from the same port carrying 4,500 passengers will head to the islands of the Argosaronic Gulf, including among others the islands of Salamina, Egina, Hydra, Poros, Spetses, and Angistri. At the Rafina port, 11 sailings are scheduled on Sunday with 5,252 passengers, while Lavrio has 7 sailings scheduled with 1,950 passengers. The exodus of Athenian holidaymakers from Attica's 3 biggest ports continued on Saturday, as 23 ferries, all carrying tens of thousands of passengers, the Hellenic Coast Guard reported.  (On Saturday, a total of 23 ships sailed from Piraeus to the islands (32,580 passengers), another 14 from Rafina (9,897), and 8 from Lavrio (4,124)). On Friday, 24 ships totaling 29,198 passengers departed from the port of Piraeus, while 11 ships with 2,843 passengers sailed off from the port of Lavrio, and another 17 ferries with 8,102 passengers departed from the port of Rafina. August 15th, feast day for the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, is one of Greece's biggest holidays after Christmas and Easter.  

The new service, the announcement said, is expected to significantly facilitate access and improve the experience of visitors to the sites, as they can avoid long queues and pay for their tickets with their cards, phones or smart watches. Visa collaborated with Cardlink for the installation of 10 machines at archaeological sites for the first time in Greece, in what is viewed as a flagship project that will enhance the experience of thousands of tourists and help in the digitalisation of the country's most-visited sites. Admission tickets can also be bought at traditional ticket offices, through B2B ticketing and the online app hhticket.gr, the official booking engine used by the Organisation for the Management of Cultural Resources, which is responsible for the above sites.

More than 250 residents on Paros “invaded” the popular Santa Maria beach demanding space to put down their towels. The campaign was the first of its kind on the island – and it is only the start, according to the Paros Citizens’ Movement for Free Beaches. The beaches of Kolymbithres and Paros Park are the next stop in the campaign, which was spearheaded by 78-year-old Christos Gerogousis, a former school principal. “We are united by the concern for the shrinking of public space and our displacement from the beaches of our country,” the Paros Citizens’ Movement for Free Beaches says. “We are concerned about the lawlessness on the beaches of Paros by companies that exploit parts of the beaches and arbitrarily occupy the common space with deckchairs and umbrellas, far beyond the limits provided by the concession contracts they have signed. “We defend the right of the citizens and visitors of our island to have free access to the beaches we love. The Greek summer is part of our soul, it is part of our identity: let’s not let anyone take it away from us,” the Movement says. The Greek Constitution states clearly that the country’s shoreline is considered a public good, and Greek citizens have the right to access and use beaches any time they please. However, no single person or company has the right to exploit a public beach or block access to any Greek citizen. However, since the 1980s, shoreline use laws have been blatantly violated by both individuals and companies who use seaside areas solely for their own profit. It has come to the point that through the years, shoreline law violations are considered by most Greeks as actually legal. For instance, the law says that if a hotel is built right on the beach and there is no outside access to the beach, a citizen who wants to use it has the right to walk through the hotel to get to the beach. Although the Constitution says that Greek beaches are public property, the laws regarding coastal use are so complicated that deceitful individuals have found loopholes to circumvent them and “privatize” public beaches for their benefit alone. The law stipulates that a business leasing beach space is required to leave 50 percent of the area unoccupied in order to allow access to those who do not wish to pay for special beach services. The business is also required to leave a 5-meter gap between its amenities and the sea, as well as maintain a distance of 100 meters from similar seaside ventures. At the same time, Greek legislation does not allow for the placement of sound systems or music at volumes in excess of the 50-decibel mark. Of course, that’s all a far cry from the reality at many of the country’s beaches. The most frequent transgressions are not maintaining the required distance from the sea, occupying more beach space than permitted, as well as failing to maintain a distance of 100 meters from the next beach business.

Speaking to state broadcaster ERT, he stressed that these are not donkeys, but mules that can lift up to 100 kilos. Cars are banned on the island. He noted that a preliminary examination found the refrigerator weighed 67 kilos. “It’s not something we do for tourist purposes or because we like it. It is a necessity on the island,” Koukoulakis said, adding that a mule costs 4,000-5,000 euros and its owner takes care of it. “There has never been a recorded case of animal abuse,” he insisted.

The quick team effort meant that “by the time the fire brigade came, most of the fire actually was dealt with,” said Elena Korosteleva from Britain, who was vacationing at the Lindos Memories hotel. The next morning, some unsettled guests cut their holiday short — but most stayed on as the resort wasn’t damaged in the small brush fire outside its grounds. The Greek island known for sparkling beaches and ancient sites is nursing its wounds after 11 days of devastating wildfires in July. After thousands of people were evacuated during the height of travel season, Rhodes is weighing how the crisis will affect its vital tourism sector, which fuels most of its economy and some 20% of Greece’s. The mayor of Villardeciervos village, in part of northwestern Spain ravaged by fires last summer, said hikers are still coming. “Tourism is bound to suffer a bit in the next few years, (whether) we like it or not,” Rosa María López said. “On the hiking trails, there are no trees, and it is very sad to see. … But this area is still highly valued by tourists in spite of everything. We will have to adapt.” Fires have chased away tourists in hard-hit parts of Greece and Italy. Rhodes saw mass cancellations of flights and the trend is similar in Sicily, said Olivier Ponti, vice president of insights at ForwardKeys, a travel data company with access to airline industry ticketing data. While travel to Greece overall has not been hit too hard, Italy isn’t as lucky. Wildfires “have caused a slowdown in bookings for many Italian destinations, even places not close to the fires,” he said, noting a drop for Rome in the last week of July. Even without the flames, summer heat intensified by climate change can be a turnoff for travelers. Hoteliers are worried in southeastern Spain’s coastal resort city of Benidorm, a longtime favorite for British and Scandinavian tourists. “If heat waves were to be repeated every summer, the impact on our economy would be significant,” said Antonio Mayor, chair of the hotel and tourism association in the Valencia region, which includes Benidorm. “Our activity is centered on the three summer months.” That could mean tourists head north to Scandinavian countries or the United Kingdom instead. “Record-setting temperatures in European countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain are not scheduled to ease up as we enter August, so it might be considered a much safer option to opt for a stay in northern Europe,” said Tim Hentschel, CEO of digital booking platform HotelPlanner. The World Meteorological Organization and the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service calculated July to be the hottest month on record. Heat records foreshadow changes ahead as the planet warms, scientists say, including more flooding, longer-burning wildfires and extreme weather events that put people at risk. With that in mind, U.S.-based climate technology startup Sensible Weather is developing insurance that would compensate people if extreme heat wrecks their holiday. It’s rolled out “weather guarantee” coverage to travel companies in the U.K., France and the U.S., which pays travelers if prolonged rain ruins their beach break or there’s no snow for a ski trip. Sensible Weather will soon add a heat cover option “in anticipation of next summer,” founder Nick Cavanaugh said. “People are asking me about it more because they’re thinking about these things more.” While people differ on how hot is too hot, “in the simplest version, if it was 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit) for three hours in the middle of the day and you couldn’t go out and do an activity, we could give you some money back,” he said. Rhodes had expected foreign arrivals to increase 8%-10% over a bumper year in 2022, when about 2.6 million people flew in to the Greek island, mostly from Britain and Germany. But after the fires, flight cancellations in the last week of July exceeded all bookings made in the equivalent week in 2019, said Ponti of ForwardKeys. Manolis Markopoulos, head of the Rhodes hotel association, is optimistic that rebounding arrivals to parts of the island not damaged by flames can salvage much of the projected boost in tourism. “Every day we’re seeing more business,” he said. “By Aug. 8-10, I think we’ll be back to our normal pace at all these resorts,” which account for about 90% of the island’s 220,000 beds. In damaged areas, “some brave tour operators have already decided to bring customers from this coming weekend,” Markopoulos said. “These areas have a longer road before they return to normality — but they’re not even 10% of the (island’s) total capacity.” New bookings for future travel to Rhodes did take a hit, falling 76% the week of July 17, when the fires began, over the previous week. For Greece as a whole, they slumped 10%, Ponti said. While some major British operators briefly canceled all Rhodes flights and holidays — offering refunds to people who’d booked for fire-hit areas — other budget airlines kept offering seats and reported normal travel figures, HotelPlanner’s Hentschel said. In Germany, leading travel operator TUI is again offering vacations to all parts of Rhodes after it stopped flying tourists in. “We would do more damage to the people of Rhodes if no more tourists came now after the forest fires,” TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel told Germany’s dpa news agency. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis offered an additional incentive, appearing on ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” this week to promise people whose Rhodes vacations were spoiled by the fires a free week on the island next spring or fall. Korosteleva, the Rhodes vacationer, said the blazes should motivate action against climate change. “It makes people aware what we’ve caused to the planet, that this change may not be reversible. So it’s not just about tourism,” said Korosteleva, who heads the University of Warwick’s Institute of Global Sustainable Development. “I think it actually clearly touches upon how we need to start acting now.”