His view that there is no overtourism in Greece, but poor management of tourist flows, is emphatically emphasized once again by Dimitris Buhalis, Professor of Tourism Marketing and Strategy at Bournemouth University, in an interview with MONEY & TOURISM and to Mr. Constantinos St. Deriziotis, on the occasion of the noise that has been created recently around this issue.
Professor Buhalis acknowledges that many destinations in the country face many important infrastructure issues for which tourism is not to blame. On the contrary!
He even underlines that there is “demonization of tourism”!
Referring to Santorini, Dimitris Buhalis stresses that “…the tourist experience on the island is not what it should be”.
Commenting on the international tourism scene, the Greek professor notes that the landscape is blurred with the wars and the economic crisis, while pointing out the need to have a long-term strategy for tourism in Greece, with a parallel study of the competition.
Finally, commenting on the famous issue of inviting workers to cover the dozens of vacancies in tourism, Professor Buhalis asks “Attention to the invitation of foreigners”, as the experience of authentic Greek hospitality offered by Greek workers will be lost. He also calls for “…automating tasks for the benefit of the employee and ultimately the customer to whom it all ends up”.
