Germans Turn Their Backs on Greece, Bulgaria Benefiting

A group of tourists get ready to enter the Roman Forum in central Athens, beneath the Acropolis' north slope. Photo by BGNES

Greek tourism revenues could mark a 5% decrease in 2012 due to a fall in pre-bookings from Germany, industry officials have said.

Greece expects tourist numbers to fall 3 % from 16.4 million last year, prompting a 5% fall in revenues, in the wake of the country's negative publicity in its top tourists markets and Germany in particular.

Meanwhile pre-bookings for Bulgaria from Germany have already marked a 14% increase under the program of one of the four major tour operators - TUI, it emerged at ITB Berlin, the world's largest tourism fair.

Bulgaria enjoys good prospects for profitable summer season not only thanks to its attractive resorts and price-quality ratio, but also due to a tangible outflow of tourists from Greece and Egypt, the German experts pointed out.

Greece remains the greatest destination for Bulgaria's short break fans, who would rather find their pleasures closer to home and whose batteries take longer to recharge.

A huge part of the active and working people in the Bulgarian capital have been spending over the last few years their summer holidays south of Sofia, in Greece and Halkidiki in particular.

Unfortunately the good news about Bulgarian tourists will not bring much expected respite to Greeks from their woes.

The problem, people from the Greek industry say, is with the Greek and German tourists.

All the measures that the Greek government implemented in a bid to combat the crisis, particularly the hikes in VAT and fuel, dealt a heavy blow to the country's tourism sector and it was even forced to swallow a very unpopular move – a decrease in prices of the tourist packages offered.

The decrease in prices though is not a decision for everyone as the smaller, family hotels, which represent the spine of Greece's tourism sector, will see their profits shrink even further. That's the reason why companies opt for keeping the prices, but offering bonuses together with the packages.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!