Greece may have an economy that has been strongly shaken by its debt burden, but the Eastern Mediterranean country still remains a favourite with tourists, and demand for Greek villa rentals remains high according to Luxury Retreats, an international luxury villa rental specialist.
Luxury Retreats chief executive officer, Joe Poulin, said, ‘It’s business as usual for us in terms of reservations at popular destinations like Santorini and Crete. On the islands, the importance of tourism to the local economy and jobs cannot be overstated. Our travel partners in Greece remain committed to providing a premium vacation experience for each and every one of our guests.’
While there has been a 15 percent decrease in tourism revenue, reported by the Bank of Greece in the first quarter of 2012, the company has reported a 10 percent increase in the number of reservations for its 94 company-owned Greek island villas, for the same period.
Dr. Andreas Andreadis, the president of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE), said, ‘We want to encourage international tourism and assure potential tourists that there has never been a better time to come to our country. We are trying to change the way our country and its economy is run, however, this is not going to affect the quality of a holiday.’
However, the company has reported that the average price of a Luxury Retreats booking in Greece has decreased by 37 percent, from £8,489 in first quarter of 2011, to £5,324 for the same period in 2012.
