SETE: Investments worth 6.5bln Euros needed over next 5 years

Tax cuts in industry a must, SETE president says

The tourism industry has the ability to contribute 43 billion euros to Greece’s GDP by 2021, creating 1 million new jobs directly or indirectly linked to the industry, according to data presented at a conference organised by Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), Tuesday. SETE President Andreas Andreadis said tourism was ready to turn a new leaf, but added that danger of thousands of small and medium-sized tourist-related businesses vanishing due to policies of over-taxation was a real threat. The data, collected through studies conducted by PWC and REMACO, showed that investments worth 6.5 billion Euros till 2021, as well as the building of new infrastructure by the state and hotel investors were necessary conditions to boost the aggregate revenue generated in the industry. The figures revealed that foreign arrivals in Greece are expected to rise by 35 million until 2021. The President of SETE stressed that although expectations on foreign arrivals had been exceeded, this did not reflect revenues. He added that it was imperative that the Greek government lowered taxes to boost the competitiveness of Greek tourism.