Greece rises as one of the top tourism destinations worlwide

When Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization, and his team landed in Athens at the beginning of the summer, several international players in the hospitality sector appreciated that this was a substantial vote of confidence in our country’s prospects. The 66th Meeting of the Organization’s Regional Committee in Europe prompted the visit, while his presence in Greece at the start of such a significant year had a particularly symbolic character.

As this season draws to a close with a rather positive outlook, given Greece’s circumstances, it is probably the most appropriate time for an interview with the man who, as head of the World Tourism Organisation, holds the most comprehensive, well-rounded view of the hospitality sector and its prospect in the medium and long term. 

You have led the UNWTO through one of the most challenging periods in global hospitality. What have been the key gains and achievements of the organization during this time? How does the UNWTO exit the pandemic stronger?

This has been an unprecedented crisis for our sector and our societies. Since a pandemic is a shared challenge, tourism’s response needed to be united and consistent. The first priority of UNWTO, therefore, was to bring the sector together – not just our Member States but also other international organizations, including our fellow United Nations agencies, as well as businesses and key players in civil society. We achieved this early on through the establishment of the UNWTO Global Tourism Crisis Committee. Through this Committee, we succeeded in drawing up a common plan of action to firstly respond to the immediate challenges posed by the pandemic, including supporting tourism businesses and protecting jobs, and also looking ahead to the safe and responsible restart of the sector. 

UNWTO also succeeded in ensuring that the relevance of tourism was acknowledged and reflected in the action plans of governments and international organizations. Tourism is now an integral part of the United Nations agenda, and in this way – with a sector united like never before and recognized as a pillar of recovery and sustainable development – both UNWTO and the global tourism sector can exit the pandemic stronger. 

A couple of months ago, during the 66th meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Europe held in Athens, you accurately predicted the strong, pent-up demand for a return to tourism. Having seen the roll out of tourism activity over the summer season of 2021, what are your thoughts and what do you expect for the next 12 months?

The latest data compiled by UNWTO does show that international tourism did indeed show signs of a rebound in June and July of this year. Indeed, July was the best month in terms of international tourist arrivals since April 2020, with 54 million tourists crossing borders. This improvement was driven largely by the reopening of many destinations to tourists, especially in Europe and across the Americas. The Mediterranean was one of the best-performing of all sub-regions, with a 5% increase in arrivals during the year to the end of July when compared with the same seven-month period of 2020, equivalent to 140 million international arrivals and bringing in $123 billion in tourism receipts. 

Alongside this, the relaxation of restrictions for vaccinated travellers, and the progress being made in getting people vaccinated, have helped boost confidence in travel and contributed to getting the world moving again. Looking ahead, we remain cautious about making predictions. The situation remains fluid and continues to evolve. However, the UNWTO Panel of Experts, made up of a diverse range of leaders from across the sector, continue to believe that the significant pent-up demand for travel will truly be unleashed in 2022, most probably during the second half of the year. Europe is relatively optimistic, with 68% of our Panel of Experts from the region confident that international tourism will be back to strength in 2023. 

Despite the volatile market environment and the challenges of the past year, hospitality brands have been quite active in their investment operations and the way in which they are rediscovering and re-inventing themselves. Can you share your perspective with regard to destinations? Do you see them exhibiting the same levels of commitment to innovation and repositioning? Are there any highlights or case studies that you would like to share from your global experience and perspective?

UNWTO has made investments in tourism one of our key priorities for the months ahead. The fall in foreign investment caused by the pandemic have put many projects on hold. Promoting investment and especially investment in projects that can deliver benefits far outside of the sector itself, is vital to ensuring tourism’s unique potential as a driver of development and opportunity is realized. 

Certainly, UNWTO has seen strong interest in green investments and in investments in sustainable tourism projects. We recently held the second edition of the UNWTO Global Tourism Investment Forum in Cabo Verde, welcoming investors from Europe interested in the potential of African tourism. Just one example to take from here is the Little Africa Maio project in Cabo Verde, which shows how directed foreign investment in tourism can deliver a wide range of economic, social and ecological benefits.

With regards to commitment from Member States, governments have responded quickly and strongly with the level and coverage of policy measures steeping up over time. Most countries have adopted economy-wide stimulus packages (fiscal relief and monetary measures) along with holiday bonuses and job support measures among others. UNWTO is very proud of all its members for placing tourism at the forefront of their recovery packages.

Since the beginning of the crisis, the UNWTO has been highlighting the need to protect and sustain employment levels across the industry. Almost 500 days later, the hospitality industry is now facing a challenge in attracting and sustaining talent. What are the key initiatives that can attract people back to one of the most exciting sectors to work in?

Tourism is not only one of the most exciting sectors to work in, but also one of the most inclusive, and offers the best opportunities for personal growth and development. What’s important now is to make sure that the opportunities that tourism offers are available to as many people as possible. For this reason, we have continued to expand the UNWTO Tourism Online Academy, giving people a chance to learn relevant skills such as digital marketing and destination management, no matter their background or location. Employers also need to invest in tourism’s most important asset – its people – through training and career development opportunities. All this can help make tourism jobs more attractive and better placed to hold onto talent.  

As the hospitality ecosystem is gradually being rebuilt, do you believe that brands and destinations are willing to walk the extra mile towards sustainability? Will the pandemic act as a springboard for a more sustainable future in the hospitality industry?

Before the pandemic hit, tourism had been making significant progress towards meeting its climate action responsibilities. As a sector, tourism is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, with extreme weather events posing a risk to destinations and infrastructure and water shortages and habitat loss also affecting a destination’s attractiveness. Alongside this, there is a clear business case for businesses and destinations to ‘go the extra mile’, especially as tourists become more informed about the impacts of their journeys and more interested in responsible tourism. 

Now, we see a strong determination to accelerate this progress and seize on the current crisis as an opportunity to put sustainability at the centre of tourism’s restart and future growth. Ahead of the COP26 climate talks, UNWTO has announced ‘The Glasgow Declaration: Commitment for a Decade of Tourism Climate Action’, and we have already seen strong interest in both destinations and businesses wanting to become signatories. 

Can you give us your insights on the potential and performance of Greece as a destination? Has it emerged from these challenging years stronger? Do you acknowledge the significant upside potential of the Greek hospitality sector?

Greece has long been one of the world’s top tourism destinations and the country’s tourism sector. It is also a valued UNWTO Member State, supporting our work from the start of the crisis, as demonstrated in its Chairing of the Technical Group of our Global Tourism Crisis Committee. By providing concrete support for tourism businesses and protecting jobs throughout the crisis, the Greek government has ensured that the country’s tourism sector is in an excellent position to bounce back from the impacts of the pandemic and to drive wider economic and social recovery. The readiness to diversity also puts Greece in a good position to meet emerging tourism trends, including growing interest in wine and gastronomy tourism and in rural destinations.