Tourism in Greece
In the year of 2004, Greece ranked 12th in terms of international tourist arrivals world wide with a figure of 14.180 Million visitors, some of which came for the 2004 Olympic Games. Since the promotion of Greece from the Olympic Games, the Government expected significant growth in the years to come. In the year 2008, tourism increased by approximately 14 percent, official figures show, and Greece was ranked as the most popular destination amongst Americans in the United States. In 2003, tourists spent an estimated 11 billion Euros, contributing 8% to Greece's GDP. Tourism in Greece has multiplied 50 times in the past 40 years and is expected to only get bigger in the next 10 years.

The main problem for Greece and its tourism industry is that many people are now going to places such as Croatia or Turkey where they can get a similar summer holiday for a lot cheaper. Unfortunately, the Government did not spend much on promoting tourism in Greece until the Olympic Games. But, the new Government spent 10 times more money since then and also they have now hired Greek singer, Elena Paparizou, as their official Ambassador as well as having released a new campaign with promising results. One suggestion is to focus now on the Winter side of Greece as Greece's tourism industry is really only a 6 month tourism season. If promoted correctly, Greece could almost double its tourist statistics since most of the 14 million tourists are accounted for in only 6 months of the year.

In 2008, over 30 Billion Dollars will be spent on Tourism by the government compared to 7 Billion in 2002 in order to remain competative with Turkey and Spain. Greece was also named the favourite place to visit in 2008 by Chinese voters in a Chinese survey. It is believed that with the recent outbreak of the Bird Flu in Turkey, people will divert to Greece for there summer holidays of 2008 which means a small boost in Tourism for Greece.