![\"\"](\"https:\/\/grtraveller.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Grigoris-Tasios_3.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHow difficult will the winter ahead be for the tourism sector and the people who have invested in it?<\/strong><\/p>\n With the cash at zero, it’s an extremely difficult winter for hotels, especially those of 12-month operation. The “heavy winter” is inevitable. The question is whether the Greek hotel, which has proven its great contribution to the economy and society, will be supported in this difficult time. It is precisely on this that the outcome of the struggle for survival that all hoteliers from one end of the country to the other will depend. And when I refer to support, I don’t mean the repayable amounts which are loans and have to be repaid.<\/p>\n We need to be calm because panic always leads to wrong decisions but we also need a “survival fund” so that every hotelier feels that he has at least the “first aid” to survive…<\/p>\n What are the biggest challenges and what support measures will be needed?<\/strong><\/p>\n The challenge is survival. That is clear. We need to be calm because panic always leads to wrong decisions, but we also need a “survival fund” so that every hotelier feels that he has at least the “first aid” to last until the cycle of recovery begins for the country and tourism. This is a critical time and will continue to be so throughout the winter, as the development of the pandemic freezes everything. For the measures required, POX has submitted comprehensive proposals to strengthen liquidity, which is the oxygen of every business, while stressing that the noose of borrowing should not be tightened more and more on the neck of the hotel. We need breathing space, not repayable loans.<\/p>\n Will the tourism industry be able to “ramp up” in 2021, even if the pandemic continues?<\/strong><\/p>\n The hotels dutifully applied the health protocols and protected the country’s health credibility.<\/p>\n Despite the optimistic news, the truth is that we have yet to see a vaccine in a bottle with a label and safety approval. So we still have a long way to go and the estimate is that we will see a recovery from 22. If the news continues to be good on the vaccine front, what we can realistically expect from 21 is that it will at least double that of 20 and become a stepping stone year for the recovery of 22.<\/p>\n You recently renewed your term of office as president of the Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers (POX). What are the main challenges and differences between the two terms of office?<\/strong><\/p>\n Look, today we are experiencing an unprecedented situation for tourism and the hotel industry that has no historical precedent. This is what makes the big difference in the POX mission. The struggle for survival of all colleagues must be won, no one must be left behind and we must all be on our feet, businesses and workers, to move Greek tourism forward.<\/p>\n From there onwards there are four constant challenges for the WCO. First the regulation of labour relations and the inelastic expenditure on wage costs (high social security contributions). Our second challenge is to participate in the social dialogue in a meaningful and responsible way so that the government of the day listens to us, so that problems can be solved sooner and we can move forward. The third constant challenge is to further rally our members. And it is worth noting here that from 38 associations in 2017, we have now achieved 52 associations represented by POX. Fourth and very important, the education and training of human resources and the positive contribution to both the upgrading of the Greek tourism product and the enhancement of employment in our country, especially for the young generation that deserves the opportunity to have a successful career.<\/p>\n Hotels were exempted from the second lockdown. Is it a reward for not being considered a hazard operation?<\/strong><\/p>\n They are certainly not risk operations and this has been demonstrated by the excellent health management achieved by the industry, dutifully implementing health protocols and protecting the country’s health credibility.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, I do not consider it to be a reward. Anyway, and the hotels that are staying open at the moment have no purpose whatsoever. If they were closed by government mandate, nothing would change, nor would there be any additional burden on their support than is currently provided for. So I honestly wonder about the purpose of the exemption.<\/p>\n We may keep physical distances but at all levels, unity is a prerequisite to endure and move forward.<\/p>\n Has thematic tourism enhanced the tourism dynamics of Greece? Which kind of dominates?<\/strong><\/p>\n There is indeed potential, which can enrich our product thematically. Such as hiking tours, mountain biking, gastronomic experiences and of course visiting archaeological sites, museums, cultural sites, etc. So where we have proven advantages, that is where we need to plan and invest in order to respond directly and effectively to emerging global trends in the tourism experience, which are expected to become even more pronounced in the post-pandemic period.<\/p>\n What is the optimistic message that could be “born” out of this period?<\/strong><\/p>\n We may keep physical distances but at all levels, unity is a prerequisite to endure and move forward. This unity is confirmed by the hotel industry and is our most effective weapon in the struggle for survival and recovery, so that we can continue our contribution to the economy and our country in the coming seasons.<\/p>\n What are your two favourite destinations in Greece and abroad?<\/strong><\/p>\n For Greece we do not discuss it since “it is not like Halkidiki”. For abroad, my preference at the moment is Austria. It is also a country that combines nature with spirit and therefore we can learn very useful lessons for the management of either mountain or urban destinations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The recovery of the tourism industry, the challenges of the hotel sector and the “Survival Fund”. The president of the Pan-Hellenic Federation of Hoteliers (POX), Mr. Gregory Tasios, renewed his term of office, talks to grtraveller about the hotel’s contribution to the economy and society, and makes proposals for the “next day.” How difficult will…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6655,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-epikerotita-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grtraveller.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grtraveller.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grtraveller.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grtraveller.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grtraveller.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10258"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/grtraveller.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14677,"href":"https:\/\/grtraveller.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10258\/revisions\/14677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grtraveller.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grtraveller.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grtraveller.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grtraveller.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}