Andreas Andreadis

Greek tourism revenues may rise by up to 9 percent this year, helping Greece return to strong economic growth, but political issues could cloud that forecast, the head of Greek tourism body SETE told Reuters Tuesday.

A law passed two months ago to regulate the taxation of apartments and houses leased to tourists through online platforms like Airbnb has yet to be put into effect, as the government delays implementation due to objections from certain cabinet members.

The availability of air seats to regional airports in Greece from foreign markets this year will only rise by 1 million over 2016, and not 3.5 million as carriers had originally planned for, according to data from the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE).

Greece will be a two-tier tourism market this year, and the performance gaps between different sectors, enterprises and destinations look set to broaden.

An improvement in the way the country's migration crisis is being managed and the smooth completion of the bailout review would enable Greek tourism to maintain its northbound course in 2017, according to the head of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), Andreas Andreadis.

Destinations in northern Greece are facing the threat of losing out on thousands of visitors and millions of euros next year, according to the president of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), Andreas Andreadis.

Speaking at the first open conference of the Confederation of Greek Businessmen’s Tourist Accommodations, held on the sidelines of the Expo Hotel at the Tae Kwon Do stadium, President of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) Andreas Andreadis pointed out that the 2016 season had ended with a rise of 1.5 million tourist arrivals, the total of which amounted to 25 million.

The 350,000 Greek holiday bookings already made for next year by British tourists may only account for a 1.3 percent share of annual incoming tourism but they do point to a small increase, the head of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) said.

There are 35 hotels fewer this year than there were in 2015 based on the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels’ official record of registered members, constituting a major blow to investment prospects for Greek tourism.

According to data released by the Bank of Greece (BoG), revenue from the tourism industry had dropped by 9.85 billion Euros (7.1%) over the past 8-moth period, compared to the same period in 2015, which is a record low from the start of the year in January till the end of the summer season in August.