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The time of crisis: need for strategic management and marketing, reengineering and dynamic engagement through eTourism and social media

Tourism is absolutely critical for Greece and one of the few areas where it can achieve competitive advantage and stimulate development. Greece has incredible resources and is an unbelievable "theatre" offering a great stage for developing and delivering unique and memorable experiences. Tourism in Greece has several strategic and operational weakness as identified in my research over the years [Buhalis, D., 2001, Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges, Current Issues in Tourism, Vol.4(5), pp.440-480]. However the incredible tourism resources makes Greece a very desirable tourism destination and one of the very few destinations around the world that can generate and deliver authentic and deeply fulfilling experiences.

The economic situation in Greece and the consequent unrest has brought a negative image of the country to the media. For the past two years, the crisis which has forced Greeks to bite the austerity bullet in order to qualify for a new EU/IMF bailout of 130 billion euros has made demonstrations become all too familiar. The outpour of frustration and anger at both past and current governments has left the country over 300 billion euros in debt.  Despite the protests, many both in and outside of Greece say this austerity plan was the only choice to avoid an even worse crisis. Greece is changing fast and the measures taken address past mistakes and gradually reengineer the country.


Greek Tourism: Image, Brand and Media Realities
However its image is suffering significantly and this may have a direct impact on tourism. Many television channels around the world keep playing the same clips of riots or other unflattering images. There is very little positive image coming out of Greece right now. However, very few people realise that in actual fact the vast majority of the protests are happening in Syntagma [Constitution Square] in front of the Parliament. A maximum of 3-5 square km around the Parliament may be affected on a bad day. The vast majority of the country, the islands, the mainland and all the tourism resorts get on with daily life and struggle to survive in an environment which has brought hardship to every single Greek person. Especially those on islands the rely on tourism for their lifehood and can be badly affected by the negative image projected. In fact the vast majority of the Greek land will islands will be as beautiful and as cultural and environmentally rich as ever.

Nevertheless there is some evident damage with Trendscope predicting a reduction of tourism from Germany and Austria by 30% http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15786360,00.html. Uncertainty, negative image, bad news and the antagonistic messages that emerge have done significant damage. Having said that my prediction is that this year many people will book holidays to Greece at the last minute. The fact that Egypt and Tunisia are still suffering from political unrest will probably give Greece some breathing space.

The Greek tourism industry has been very busy to restructure itself and to prepare for a summer season that can deliver great customer value but also development opportunities, employment, and poverty alleviation. SETE demonstrates the importance of  Greek Tourism. In 2010, the contribution of tourism to Greek GDP amounted to 15.3%, while total employment in tourism (746,200 jobs) corresponded to 17.9% of the workforce. Up to 360,000 jobs could be created in the tourism industry by 2019, corresponding to 100% of the unemployed in Greece in 2009. Compared to the rest of the world, Greek tourism has achieved satisfactory performance. According to the most recent data published by the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), in 2010 Greece was in 17th position as regards the number of international tourist arrivals and 21st as regards international tourism receipts. Moreover, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF), in 2011 Greece was in 29th position out of 139 countries included in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, while Greece occupied the 83rd position in the Global Competitiveness Index. This data proves that Greek tourism is one of the few sectors of the national economy that is competitive at a global level.

Greek tourism: Crisi, cash flow issues and Tour Operator Bargaining

Greek tourism needs to be particularly careful this year to deal with the economic crisis and to reengineer the provision tourism experience. There is plenty of expertise in strategic destination management and marketing. For example see Buhalis, D., 2000, Marketing the competitive destination of the future, Tourism Management, Vol.21(1), pp.97-116.  As money is tight, many organisations face major cash flow issues since the banking system is reluctant to finance any development or even operating expenses.

There is a danger also that Tour Operators will withhold reservations until the very last minute with the view to renegotiate contracts or to divert tourists in case of emergency. This is a well known tactic for tour operators for reducing the prices of hoteliers around the world and for enhancing their competitive position in the tourism value chain. Hoteliers need to ensure that the remain professional and do not rush to offer heavy discounts that can damage profitability. They should also develop their direct marketing and take advantage of direct flights from around the world to promote their hotels directly to consumers. Marketing and social media are critical in this process as the directly influence consumer choice and destinations and hotel purchasing. See my research on this area where we document how this is happening and how it is more likely to happen this year or in any tourism destination in crisis. See these publications to understand how it works.

Bastakis, C., Buhalis, D., and Butler, R., 2004, The Impact of Tour Operator’s power on small and medium sized tourism accommodation enterprises on the Mediterranean Islands, Tourism Management, Vol.25(2), pp.151-170.

Buhalis, D., 2000, Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism: Conflicts between hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region, International Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Administration Journal, Vol.1(1) pp.113-139.

Fotis, J., Buhalis, D., Rossides, N., 2011, Social media impact on holiday travel: The case of the Russian and the FSU markets, International Journal of Online Marketing, 1(4), 1-19.

Way Forward: Hard Work, Genuine Hospitality, Authentic Memorable Experiences and Filotimo – Using Strategic Marketing, Branding, eTourism and Social Media.
There is hope through hard work, genuine hospitality, self sacrifice, unity, mutual support and filotimo. Filotimo involves personal pride, dignity, courage, duty, sacrifice – even one’s life – and above all demands respect and deep personal freedom. And Filotimo is not something that is taught a Greek; it is inbred. However, many small companies around Greece and particularly small family hotels as well as larger companies are doing their utmost to ensure that their guests will have a great time as they have done every year. But this year they understand the need for going the extra mile and deliver memorable experiences. The Ministry of Tourism of Greece http://www.visitgreece.gr/ has even developed a comprehensive suite of tourism social media and blog to engage with consumers from around the world and encourage their visitation.

Visitgreece Blog
We need to get much more serious from now on, coordinate all our resources, organisations, transportation and strategies to ensure that we can deliver fantastic memorable experiences. Focus on unparalleled customer service, delivering authentic and memorable experiences and engaging in a dialogue with consumers using social media. Greece and the Greek people need tourists and tourism to give Greece a chance to make a change and to support economic development and structures and processes re-engineering.


Professor Dimitrios Buhalis is Director eTourism Lab, School of Tourism, Bournemouth University, President of International Federation of Information Technology for Travel and Tourism (IFITT)
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