News that big multinational hotel chains are increasing their activity in Greece is a blessing for some and a curse for many others. As travelers, you are not privy to the forces that drive you to a hotel or destination or the legitimate value you get once you arrive. Unless you’ve been in the PR and marketing business or report on the hospitality sector, you’d be in for a big surprise. Here’s an insider’s view on overtourism and how it affects Greek Hospitality.
Bedding Down Clients
Beds, rooms, penetration, further development, and other terms hotel management firms, marketing agencies, and investors use to describe their idea of the essence of travel make me sick to my stomach. It’s not politically correct to say it, but whoever decided to put bean counters in charge of anything but counting ruined just about everything in our world. Their cold and calculating obtuseness has negatively affected almost everything we know. Since I know it was not God who put them in charge, I can only assume the corporate profiteers are the spawn of the Devil. Now that we are clear let me address the situation in Greece.
It applies in any business. Shoemakers should be run by shoe guys, and software firms by software guys, and supermarkets by supermarket guys. With the advice and support of their bean counters, absolutely, but with the final word going to those who live and breathe the customer experience. Passion and drive for excellence will win over the computer-like, dispassionate, analysis-driven philosophy every time. – Bob Lutz, industry legend
I was just reading a story at ekathirereni about major hotel chains aiming at Greece because of the “potential” to herd more tourists into more rooms with more beds than ever. The article discusses the relatively low “penetration” of Greece versus overcrowded destinations like Spain and Italy as if no Hilton, Accor, Movenpack, or Wyndham Hotels & Resorts CEO can even read. Allow me to quote directly from the story concerning the “penetration” of Greece by the big hotel management firms:
A total of 10,047 hotels operated 444,389 rooms with a total of 887,748 beds at end-2023, according to the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels. However, only 205 hotels, with 29,204 rooms, were operated by a total of 39 international hotel chains, per data from GBR Consulting.
Talk about a double “penetration!” Not only is the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels pandering to the big boys, but the idea that Greece’s tourism product is being degraded does not even register with them. Deals, growth, back-scratching—it’s more of everything to do with business as usual and nothing to do with what is either sustainable or regenerative in nature.
A stroll through Plaka in Athens (at left) will warn any visitor of what the future holds for Greece’s desirability.
The Great Penalization
The language is devastating if considered from the point of view Greece is already sinking under the weight of overtourism. Here in Crete, infrastructure and the needs of the public have been totally ignored, and authentic Greek hospitality has been ignored as cruise tourism, construction projects, and herding more budget-seeking tourist cattle to the islands have become the only priorities. I can list 100 studies that show Crete and other Greek destinations are in huge trouble already. This one from the Macrothink Institute by Dr. John Vourdoubas shows that these International hotel chains are reading, but only the parts of studies that agree with their unbridled expansion. For instance, in Vourdoubas’ summary, we have the following:
Our results indicate that Crete is categorized as an overcrowded tourism destination among EU regions while its tourism indexes are above the EU and global average.
What this means is that Crete is an attractive destination for “developing” the island as a business and not worrying about making the island a more “attractive” tourist destination. Think about this for a moment. According to Dr. Vourdoubas, “Overtourism is the phenomenon where the large number of tourists overwhelm a destination, negatively affecting local communities, the environment, and visitor experiences.”
Returning to the original subject of bean counters from hell, the Four Seasons Resort Mykonos, scheduled to open in 2025, will sit smack in the middle of one of Greece’s most damaged island paradises. A recent Overtourism Index ranked Greece as seriously exposed to overtourism, especially seaside tourism in the islands of Mykonos and Santorini. This past Summer, at the end of hard work by Greece’s Tourism Ministry, Mykonos was overwhelmed with cruise ships. On one particular day, eight cruise ships dumped over 20,000 tourists onto an island already brimming with sunseekers. News outlets parroted the marketing propaganda that the island dealt well with the influx, but the truth is these islands and the touristic experience they stand for are being destroyed. The government’s solution is ludicrous: to add a tiny tax to put more money in the Greek treasury.
Golden Eggs Gone
Meanwhile, the genius bean counters in the travel and tourism industry seem to have miscalculated. Several reports show that revenue from places like Santorini is plummeting despite the increase in visitor numbers! Imagine that—budget everything ruining the economics of the hotel business. As for the ultimate bean counters, the chief politicians of most nations, the big lie is the big fix for everything. In a report at GTP, which parrots everything the big boys say, the story titled “Greece Does Not Face Overtourism, Says Prime Minister” says it all. In other words, we only have a problem when I say so.
Looking at that GTP story, it’s interesting that Prime Minister Mitsotakis’ lingo matches exactly the news from the big international hotel chains prospecting in Greece. Big surprise, huh? This report from the National Herald completes my argument here. Concerning what the New Democracy leadership says, versus what it does, the news magazine offers my best argument:
Despite these issues and previous claims of protecting beaches from exploitation, the government is seeking even more foreign investors and luxury resorts, allowing for zoning changes on Mykonos and other islands overwhelmed by development.
