Pull your finger out, operators tell Greek government
Tour operators who are putting pressure on Greece to start promoting in the UK admit that the downturn in bookings for the country is no worse than for any other destination.
But AITO industry affairs director Noel Josephides said that unlike Egypt and Tunisia, which have – like Greece – suffered a great deal of negative publicity, Greece was doing nothing to counteract it.
"Greece has done nothing yet, and yet it is going to rely heavily on tourism," said Josephides, who’s company Sunvil Holidays is one of the largest independent tour operators to Greece.
AITO and ABTA have written an open letter to the Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos urging him to match euro for euro the amount tour operators spend promoting Greece this summer.
Josephides said their message to the Greek government was that if it was planning to spend money promoting holidays to Greece, it should release it sooner rather than later.
"We have absolutely no idea if there are funds or not, but what we are saying is that if bureaucracy is holding up, they should pull their finger out."
The letter, signed by ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer and AITO chairman Derek Moore, suggested tour operators would cut capacity unless immediate steps are taken to revitalise bookings.
Josephides said he "didn’t have a clue" which operators were planning to cut their programmes and he admitted the whole market was down. "Nothing is selling dramatically well, but the likes of Spain, Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia are still advertising but I am not aware of Greece doing anything.
"We are just trying to galvanise Greece into action."
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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