Chinese Tourism: Greece capitalizes on increasing number of Chinese tourists

World
Europe

03:12

The Greek economy heavily depends on tourism, and the country is seeing a surge in the number of Chinese tourists. As CGTN's Filio Kontrafouri reports, Greece is looking to fully take advantage of this promising trend.

It's the history, the culture, the blue skies and recently more direct flights between Greece and China. Greece is becoming a tourist destination for more and more Chinese, with their numbers steadily going up every year. The increase, according to the Greek Ministry of Tourism, is 70 percent in the last three years.

HAO WANG CHINESE TOURIST "We really like your country. Now China has a good relationship with Greece. Most of my friends and my family, everyone from my family wants to come and visit your country."

NOA CHINESE TOURIST "The history scenery here is so beautiful so we wanted to come here and see what our history books showed us."

Chinese tourists visit Greece for city breaks, weddings and honeymoons, especially at the island of Santorini for luxury and cultural experiences.

FILIO KONTRAFOURI ATHENS "Europe has become a top destination for Chinese tourists. Their numbers, according to the European Travel Commission keep rising in almost all European countries and yet only about three percent of them visit Greece."

Over 15 million Chinese tourists came to Europe in 2018 and from those, about 200-thousand visited Greece, up from about 20-thousand in 2015. The number is still very low compared to the rest of Europe yet, travel analysts say because the Chinese market base is huge so is the potential for Greece.

GEORGE DRAKOPOULOS ANALYST, WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION "If we plan now and start applying a concrete marketing plan in the next year, I strongly believe in the next five years we can easily have two million Chinese tourists per year, including cruise passengers as well."

Tourism is Greece's biggest industry, contributing about 20 percent to the country's GDP. In increase in Chinese tourism would mean more revenue for an economy that remains weak. This, experts say, can happen only if Greece launches a specific marketing effort to lure tourists from a country as big as China.

GEORGE DRAKOPOULOS ANALYST, WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION "China is a superpower, and is also a cultural superpower. They are the big ones, we are the small ones. So we have to adapt our product to their likes and tastes. Not disguise our product, make a simple adaptation."

The Greek Ministry of Tourism has also taken notice. Greece is launching joint advertising promotional programs with China. It also plans various Greek festivals in Chinese cities and possibly more direct flights. The moves are done with one aim to ensure Greece gets a bigger share of the most sought-after tourist group in the world. Filio Kontrafouri, CGTN, Athens.