Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Tim Stenebek on Bloomberg Radio.
All Right, so I don't know about you, but at certain points over the last couple of years, I know, Tim, I've thought about going to Greece. I was just talking to my daughter who's planning. She's overseas. That's on her list before she heads back home here to New York. And you open up your Instagram a lot and think about it.
Yeah, trying not to open up my Instagram too much because you know, hashtag fomo. But it does feel like at certain points of the year, everyone in my feet is either in Greece or Italy. Like, I don't know what's going on. It's actually not our imagination here, Carol. More Americans are going to Greece. In November of twenty twenty three, tourists spending by US travelers increased by sixty two point four percent to more than sixty five million euros.
A lot of folks in Greece wants even more Americans to come and spend time and money in Greece. And that's why Olga Kavaloyani, the country's Minister of Tourism is here in the United States, she joins us, now here in our Bloombergy Interactive Brokers Studio OGA. A pleasure to have you here. First up, why are you in New York?
Well, thank you very much for hosting me, and thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to talk about what we're trying to do in terms of tourism in Greece. Of course, American market is a very important source market for Greek tourism, and twenty twenty three was a record year for Greek tourism as a whole, but both in terms of arrivals, also in terms of revenue, and it was also a record year in terms of Americans arriving in Greece and spending in Greece.
Show us the pie, like how much in terms of tourists, how much are from America, how much are from elsewhere, maybe from the European continent or so well.
The majority of our of our visitors are from European countries. So we believe that there's a lot of room, you know, for the increase from the American market. But you know, up to a couple of years ago, we didn't even have a direct connection, so this was actually an impediment. So nowadays we have direct connections through New York, Boston and Chicago and this year twenty twenty four will be having even more connections. So I think direct flights are.
So there were no direct flights.
There were direct flights, but they were not year round, so they were very seasonal.
So what do you think when a person, when an American is making the choice about where to go on vacation and they're choosing, like they're in, you know, in that stage where they're planning that trip, what prevents them from choosing Greece? Like what's the barrier that they need to get over?
Well, first of all, I think that connectivity is very important, so we are very happy that nowadays there is more of a direct connection through a lot of airlines. But I think that an embediment, if this is a correct let's say word, would be that Greece is mostly associated with summer vacations. So Greece is always associated with the Greek Islands, a beach, vacation, sea and sun, and there
is a lot more in Greece than just that. So what we are trying to do is extended season and promote Greece as a year round destination for Americans throughout the States, because it's not just the East Coast, it's also the West Coast and all the other parts of America that well.
Remind us about the weather in Greece, because it is true, like when I'm thinking about when traveling, or I know my daughter she was looking when did some overseas traveling in December and talked about Greece, and I'm like, I think it's kind of cold there in December. But give us an idea so as you make it year round. I mean, the weather is supportive of doing what in December, or give us an idea of how you're thinking about that year round approach.
Well, when we're talking about the year round approach, that means that, of course you can have year round beach vacation, but the weather is very moderate year round, so you would have a very nice experience in the countryside the mainland Greece, mountainous areas, and you can have some activities outdoors in the nature like trekking, rafting for anyone who's
interested in astronomy. Of course, Greece is associated with really good food, so I think that you would find like a Michelin Star restaurants in Athens, but also super super cute and super nice at awareness in all parts of Greece.
We had an executive from a real estate firm based in Texas on a few weeks ago, and he's a New Yorker but moved to Texas to become a CEO of this job. He's of this company, and he told us we're asking him what he missed about New York, and he was like, I can't get any good Greek food in Texas, like in the entire state. He's like, when I come to New York, the first thing I do is like, goo, get some Greek food, not of course saying it's anything close to what you find in.
Greece, but yeah, but you know, like even you know, for us, when we are in a Greek island and we have the fish that is just like caught fresh fish and it's just grilled fish. You don't really need to have a lot of seasoning or you know, like very cooking in a very particular way. You just have like very very good raw materials, and then you just have like olive oil, Greek olive oil, and it's like the best meal that you can have.
I'm sold. I want to talk a little bit about balance. Though tourism is certainly important, but also maintaining historical significance, maintaining artifacts and making sure that the place doesn't overrun with tourists. How do you find that balance.
Well, it's actually the biggest challenge right now, and this is why I'm as a minister. I'm always talking about, you know, like the new era for Greek tourism, which takes local communities needs into and to you know, significance when it comes you know, to planning. Because we see that, of course tourism is a very big source of revenue for the local economy. It's also a very big generator
of jobs. For Greece. Tourism represents almost twenty percent of GDP, both in terms of direct and indirect contribution, so you see this is a very important economic activity. But at the same time we see that there's a lot of pressure to the local communities and of course we really need to to protect and preserve our natural environment, our cultural environment.
When you're blue economy, I have to say I am obsessed. I'm a sailor and my husband I are obsessed with some of the YouTubers that sail the world and they spend a lot of time in the Mediterranian and certainly in your neighborhood and at your home, and that economy in terms of supporting fishermen, the ocean economy, the blue
economy is so important. So just to you know, kind of push a little bit more on and what Tim was asking about, like that economy, you want to make sure that doesn't come undone by a mass, you know, move of tourists into the area that maybe it can occur, because I see it in areas around the world as a diver, like just whether it's cruising or cruise ships or just over development that just really messes up the ocean economy and then impacts a country or I.
Couldn't agree with you more. This is why our strategy is focused on sustainability, and we take sustainability when it comes to the marine environment very very seriously. This is why we just founded this observatory for Marathion and coastal tourism in the middle of the Rain region. So we did this and collaboration with the UN World Tourism Organization.
So Greece, let's say we'll be in the forefront of preserving the coastal and the maritime environment in the Mediterranean, because of course it's very important for all insular nations and coastal nations to preserve the marine environment. So in this respect, of course, we are reviewing our strategy when it comes, let say, to cruise ships, because I know that you guys perspect a little bit. I know that
it's a big interest into the American market. But you know, at the same time, we cannot be having so many cruise ships, so many large cruise ships in Greece, so we are thinking of, you know, applying some quota and having a more strict birth allocation system. So I think we should find, as you said before, the correct balance. So we need the revenue, but at the same time, we need to preserve what makes us really unique and authentic and attractive, you know as a destination.
Thirty seconds and then we're going to do some news and we're going to come back. But what is specifically about the cruise operators do you find that you need to push back on.
Well, you see that especially in some of the very very popular islands such as Mikonos and Santorini, it becomes very frustrating even for visitors who are on the island and also for the islanders. So we really need to find the right balance. And of course I understand, you know that there are people who really enjoy cruising, but
then again you need to have everything in proportion. Let's say, you know, like Greece is a smaller country, so we need to have proportionate and balanced approach to things.
Carol Master and Tim Stanoviek here and the two of us are really just planning our next adventure.
We've been googling left and right. Yeah, we're been putting up with our googling of like all things Greece.
Yeah, we're going to Greece. And the reason we're talking about Greece is because we have with us right now, Country's Minister of Tourism, Olga Kefaloyani. She joins us here in the Bloomberg Interactive Brokers studio. So, Olga, we're we're looking at all different places we could go in Greece. We're already excited to play on our trip. I want to talk about costs. You're here in New York. You were telling us what we were doing, news that it's shockingly expensive to.
Be here, and I'm sorry I can say that.
Yeah, say whatever you want, Like really, I just won't be used to anyone? Is it? Everything?
I used to live here twenty years ago? So it's not like I haven't been used to like New York being quite expensive compared to other places. But I think that nowadays it's like super super expensive.
Everything are you doing about hotels?
Food?
Everything?
Especially food? I mean compared to the prices that you would have in Athens. So for the prices that you would pay here for you know, relatively mediocre restaurant, plenty of fis, you would have the same let's say price in a Michelin Star restaurant in Athens, So you understand that the quality that you pay is, you know, not comparable.
What about lodging? When it comes to paying for a hotel? What should what's the range?
Well, you know, the good thing is that there's a very big offering. So I think that depending on your budget, you can find you know, something that's equivalent, you know, to what you want to spend.
How do you, as Minister of Tourism think about a company like Airbnb, because they're pretty it's pretty controversial. There are some folks who in governments who don't like it because they think that it displaces housing for people who live in areas and drives up the price of housing. How are you thinking about.
It, Well, it's true that it's you know, it's a challenge nowadays, you know, finding again the word is the right balance, because of course we understand that there are a lot of people who would only look into this kind of accommodation that you know, they wouldn't go to a hotel, so they would look for short term rentals
for their vacation. So as a country that appeals to a lot of people, you of course need to have all sorts of so the whole range of the offering when it comes to accommodation, so both hotels and also the short term rentals. Well at the same time, if you do not have a framework, then of course this creates a lot of i would say social issues, especially when it comes to prices for locals, so for accommodation
for locals. I'm also a member of Parliament, so I present Athens and we see that you know, in the recent years, some very nice neighborhoods that used to be like full of younger people are now younger Greek people are now no longer residential areas because they're very near the acropolis. So it was you know, it made much more sense for people to just rent their apartments for visitors through these platforms Airbnb and other platforms for short
term rentals. So nowadays we have a stricter framework and and really we try to have a very balanced approach because again we understand that this is something that appeals to a lot of visitors, but at the same time we also need to have both the revenue, the correct revenue, and also, uh, you know, we don't need to have like the unfair competition to hotels, which you know, I have to go under a lot of scrutiny when it comes, you know, to the Ministry of Tourism controls and little
frameworks for their the way that they operate.
Okay, I want to go back to what your mission is to really expand tourism. Summer check, you got it down. There's lots of people who come in, but you'd like
to expand it throughout the year. And what's interesting is your Prime Minister was on with our TV colleagues in the fall and specifically he made the point that you know, part of the reason that you guys can expand potentially your tourist season is because of climate change, right that it's impacting a little bit the environment, you know, so that's kind of an unforeseen I don't want to say benefit, but right because of what's happening, or you're just seeing warming right throughout the year.
Well, you know, the climate crisis, I think is an issue for everyone to address, you know, in a very very strict manner. So I understand that there's a silver lining for everything, but I think that the most important thing is, you know, to really address the impact of the climate crisis and really for every country to do whatever they can to reverse the the effect that we see in the environment. And I think that this is important for us, it's important for our children and the
future generations. So I think that all of us have a very big responsibility when it comes to to the environment and the climate. So Greece has a very strict, let's say, legislative process right now when it comes to the environment and environmental protection, and we have a plan for having all our hotels sustainable by twenty thirty. So this is the most important thing for us that we see the climate crisis as an obligation for all of
us to do something differently. And I think that this is also something that our visitors are considering when they make their bookings, because you know, the carbon footprint and you're traveling would do to the environment is also something that is of sederation to a lot of people nowadays. Right, So I think that we have to do our part of the responsibility.
Reality. No, but I guess what I'm just saying, like the reality of not pointing fingers, I mean, the reality of we talk to vineyards all the time, right, and maybe they're shifting where they're growing because climate change is just made a reality if you can't crow here anymore, and the same thing, you know, for you guys, or for any country, right they're looking at Okay, it's warmer. What does that mean potentially that we maybe have a
longer growing season or a longer tourist season, right. I mean, it's just kind of the reality of it.
Unfortunately, Yes, I understand, but yeah, but on the other hand, you know, we really, especially politicians, we really have to be very firm when it comes, you know, to what we really have to do in order to reverse these very negative results to the environment. So this is why I really feel that I have to make this point and also as a minister, I have to make sure
that especially tourism is really sustainable. But when we're talking about extending the season, we're not talking only about you know, the weather and the fact that it's you know, moderate year round. It's also that you can have these amazing
experiences in Greece year round. And you know, actually for me, I would say that, especially for people who are interested in culture, it's much much better to enjoy all these amazing sites, you know, like two thousand and five year old sides outside the summer season, because why would you go there, you know, like when it's forty five degrees celsius and not go when it's much much nicer. And
then you can also enjoy the wineries. You can also enjoy all sorts of other activities in Greece, especially also for some people who are interested in skiing. You have to know that there are ski resorts in Greece. We are upgrading the ski facilities right now. And I'm from Crete, and you know, could have like you could skip but off base, okay, and then you can go to the ocean.
We have to run, We have to run. Olga Kea Oliani, she is the Minister of Tourism in Greece, joining us here in studio