Tourism can be a counterweight to the effects of the energy and pandemic crisis, with the aim of benefiting from the positive momentum of Greek tourism, to support and strengthen income. The explosive situation really and immediately imposes strong liquidity, both for small and medium-sized businesses as well as for citizens, in order to support Greek tourism, which contributes 1 in 4 euro to the economy.
The promotion of Greece as a tourist destination is more in our time the extensive utilization of new technologies. Development Act subsidies can be combined with funding from the Recovery and Resilience Fund resources, to the extent that the subsidy does not exceed the maximum aid rates of the Regional Aid Charter. Attracting investments to the thermal springs is considered of high importance, as the upgrading of their infrastructure is expected to lead to the arrival of travelers with high income criteria, to the stimulation of state revenues and to the mitigation of the seasonality of Greek tourism.
The new flourishing of health tourism with 830 million trips internationally, imposes on our country the need to obtain a greater share of the world market from the 4.1 million travelers, when the global turnover of the wellness tourism industry approaches 4.4 billion dollars with 600 million travelers, according to the Global Wellness Institute (2020) and with an increase of 6.5% against 3.2% of total tourism. The market in particular for Spa tourism / Thermal / spa exceeds 100 billion dollars; while in 2025 it would exceed 151 billion dollars, when Spa tourism ranges between 50-60 billion dollars.
The 150,000 insured people who can visit the thermal springs of our country, with an optimistic turnover of 1 billion euro, given the financing of foreigner trips from their insurance funds to thermal spa centers (Health Resort), always in combination with all alternative forms of thematic tourism, give added value to this complex tourist product.
The recovery and resilience fund’s green axis includes investments of 22.5 million euro for health and wellness tourism, where an explosion of interest is expected after the pandemic.
It is imperative to maintain and increase the huge contribution of tourism to the national economy and local societies, but without side effects, i.e. that tourism aims not at further increasing the number of arriving tourists, but at increasing the per capita expenditure of each tourist, aiming in better quality tourism. It is an extremely complex project, which imposes major changes in business practices and political attitudes, acting in a concerted manner in specific actions, hoping for the utilization of the healing springs.
Konstantinos Kouskoukis
Professor of Dermatology
Lawyer
President Hippocratic Academy of Thermal Medicine
President World Academy of Chinese & Complimentary Medicine