Photo by Barry Kaufman

A new show of posters of Greek tourism, ranging from the 1930s to the present day, offers a little perspective on the not-so wine dark seas that Greece finds itself in now. The exhibition entitled “A journey in time through art,” put up by the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) in Melbourne and Canberra, is a great reminder of how much this beautiful country has done for tourism over the decades. Things are beginning to look up for Greece, though the Greek people probably have stiff necks from so much time spent looking up from the red ink sea they’re cast adrift in.

A 0.6 percent growth in 2013 will provide the country with its first annual growth since 2007. With Greek unemployment at a crippling rate of 27 percent, tourism has been the lone bright star in the firmament. In fact, Greece believes it will surpass a record 19 million visitors this year, an increase that has created some 50,000 much needed new jobs.

The country’s previous high water mark was 2008’s 17 million visitors. The government has opened its arms to outside investments and that’s led to several new luxury hotels that are bringing in just the kind of high spending, low impact tourists that Greek Tourism Minister, Olga Kefalogianni has called for.

Spending tourists are the target. The best spending markets are Australians who spend €1,420 on land per vacation, Canadians at €1,207 and Americans at €1,098. Russian travelers had been a big boon also, spending €1,005, per visit, but Russian outbound travel has taken a precipitous drop thanks largely to new sources of oil, a spiraling ruble and Vladimir Putin’s Ukrainian adventure. Russian arrivals are expected to fall top 1.1 million from last year’s 1.3 million. While this hurts Greek tourism, which represents about 16 percent of Greek GDP, it appears that more traditional Greek markets will be filling the breach.

The Mediterranean news agency ANSAmed reports that the optimistic 2014 arrival forecasts come from the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE). SETE based its projections on the January through July growth rate of 16.5 percent over the first seven months of 2013. Between January and July about 8.1 million arrivals came to Greece.

Especially encouraging is the 31 percent arrivals rebound at Athens airport. Many European travelers had been avoiding the capital and taking direct flights into such gates as Chania (22.9 percent), Mykonos (39.9 percent), Santorini (6.7 percent) and Kalamata (62.5 percent). The avoidance of Athens by European travelers has put a strain on the smaller island airports.

The economic environment has attracted investment in both new hotels and in renovations of existing properties. In recent years we have seen large multi-dimensional luxury resorts like the Costa Navarino, a year-round golf destination that opened in 2010 with two five-star Starwood-managed hotels; Amanresorts’ 38-suite Amazone near Porto Heli on the Peloponnese peninsula, which opened in 2012; 22-room Iconic Santorini, a boutique cave hotel that opened in April in Santorini; and others.

The latest developments include the family friendly Royal Minoan Beach Club at Villea Village in Crete operated by Karma Royal Group’s Royal Resorts brand. Located on Crete’s southeastern coast, the resort features a number of apartment units sleeping two persons, or one-bedroom and combination apartment units with sleeping, dining and lounge areas, fully equipped kitchenettes and more.

Under its new name, the MarBella Corfu (previously The Marbella Beach Hotel) has emerged after three years of renovation that have completely transformed the hotel. The hotel, a fixture for 40 years on Corfu, promises to uphold the values associated with a family-owned hotel as it enters its “next chapter.” Located with a view of the Ionian Sea, the hotel positions itself as a luxury family property.

All of the hotel’s 384 rooms have been overhauled and re-designed. The two-bed family suites feature spacious family rooms with direct access to the gardens, offering a safe family environment, interconnecting rooms and a new, purpose built Crèche & Kids Club. The restaurants and public areas have also been transformed.

Kefalogianni’s advocacy for less red tape on foreign investment is hitting some resistance with the European Union who are characterizing it as an unfair competitive edge that violates EU regulation. Fair or unfair, the approach is attracting interest from such international hoteliers as Four Seasons which has an interest in managing properties in Athens and the Peloponnese