The pre-election period is usually an opportunity to highlight issues related to the social and economic life of the country.

The topic of tourism should become one of the priorities of the pre-election dialogue, something that everyone is proud of the achievements tourism industry. Varygodu headlines such as “explosive visitor growth to 30 million”, “pillar development tourism”, give the impression of a smooth continuous uptrend in the sector.

Any clouds that appear on the horizon of employment, infrastructure adequacy, destination overcapacity, and value for money services are dissipated by the wind of optimism of the success story of Greece, the world. Tourist Demand Champion.

Perhaps the forthcoming elections will be an occasion for reflection that will allow progress to be assessed and shortcomings and failures to be corrected before they change the positive image of the sector.

Is there a limit to tourism development or “the sky is the limit” as it is presented in the prevailing view in both industry and government, as well as in public opinion? And yet, as with all activities, the limits are determined by criteria of costs and benefits to the economy and society, so that the benefits of tourism development are not less than the economic, environmental and social consequences.

At the economic level, tourism activity tends to be dominated as a monoculture at the expense of other, both primary and secondary sectors, as well as the service sector. This phenomenon manifests itself in tourist destinations both in the center and on the periphery. The added value of tourism is declining, as its services are increasingly dependent on imports, the country is unable to meet the needs of tourism activities in products, raw materials, processed items and, finally, in human resources. The goal of constantly increasing visitors is not a panacea. Too much doesn’t mean good.

In the field of tourism infrastructure – transport, urban and environmental – there is an obvious lack and saturation.

In a related publication entitled “The Black Waters of Mykonos” (“Vima” 09/21/2021), I pointed out the danger of overexploitation of natural resources and changing the image of the country, the microscale of which is also our tourism asset. . The problem is getting worse and faster.

The recent mention of Mykonos is the tip of the iceberg. A new trend in the development of even typical coastal areas where fishermen wintered with their boats – the so-called “wires” – is the “laying on of hands” on the shores of the smaller islands of the Aegean Sea. Off-plan development, legal and mostly illegal, is changing the country’s spatial planning environment as Greece becomes the only country of global identity where off-plan development is larger than in-plan settlement development. Finally, where does the obligation of the taxpayer to pay for covering unscheduled needs in transport, wastewater treatment, and energy come from? Another distortion of the zoning rules of a modern country.

And finally, the social effects associated with the progressive change in the residential fabric of large cities from the uncontrolled change in the use of residential areas to Airbnb, i.e. accommodation for tourists. And if this limited activity of the exchange economy began as an additional incentive for the income of small owners, today it has passed into the hands of real estate and facility management companies.

Cities such as Athens are losing their color and cohesion, while the housing problem is becoming explosive, with an obvious impact on inflationary pressures and rising inequality.

A. Papandreou’s saying of the 80s “we will not become – only – the waiters of Europe” can today determine the difference between tourism development and a tourist colony. We anticipate and develop two concepts that are not the strengths of our employees.

Mr. Thassos Homenidis is a Civil Engineer.