On Monday Olg Kefallogianni participated in the event presenting the ministry’s partnership with the Monocle publication, a prestigious review that will help promote the Greek destination internationally.
Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni referred to the great contribution of tourism to the country’s gross domestic product after last year’s record year in tourism revenues, speaking to ERT on Tuesday, saying some 22 billion euros of tourism takings are expected this year.
She stated that “after a record year that was 2023, now 2024 seems to be closing as a new record year. Last year we closed with €20 billion . A very large contribution of tourism to the country’s GDP. This year we expect around €22 billion.”
The Minister of Tourism emphasized that “the workers in the tourism sector are the most important thing we have. The human capital of tourism is essentially the essence of tourism. The human face of Greece passes through the people.”
She noted that what we pay attention to is tourism education and its upgrading. “We now want to implement programs for the retraining of unskilled workers with the recovery fund, and we have had a very, very large response, but we are also interested in the next day’s agreements in the collective labor agreements that exist in tourism. We want to continue to want them to be well paid. We now want the digital work card to be introduced and of course we want the housing of workers to be provided for by law,” said the minister.
Regarding the licensing of tourist accommodations, Kefalogianni emphasized that there are strict specifications for the licensing of tourist accommodations and that there is a control mechanism. Shee mentioned that last year, the Ministry of National Economy and Finance separated those who are in the sharing economy, so they have up to two properties, and those who do it as a business activity.
She added that, “I have seen so many cases where they take entire buildings and rent them out as short-term rentals, while in reality they operate as hotels. This is one case, and on the other hand, we have seen that all this uncontrolled growth of this short-term rental has created many social problems. That is why you saw that the Ministry of Finance came now and essentially for the three apartments of Athens, for the center of Athens, it prohibits it for at least a year. This is how we start the new registrations on the platforms.”
On Monday Kefallogianni participated in the event presenting the ministry’s partnership with the Monocle publication, a prestigious review that will help promote the Greek destination internationally.