Greece, next frontier for Korean tourists

The business of tourism in Greece dates back to classical mythology when Zeus, king of the gods, counted among his many responsibilities the welcoming of visitors.

Today, in Seoul, this responsibility falls on the lap of the newly arrived Greek Ambassador Petros Avierinos, who hopes to increase the number of Korean visitors.

Greece attracts more than 16 million tourists each year, contributing 15 percent to the nation`s gross domestic product.

Its rich, long history and glorious Mediterranean coastline have attracted about 7 million tourists a year just in the city of Athens alone.

But only 4,000 Koreans discovered Greece last year.

"We are trying to find ways to improve the situation," said Avierinos.

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His predecessor was extremely active in promoting a direct flight between Incheon and Athens with Korean Air.

"Unfortunately we fell into this crisis, which I`m afraid might delay that decision," he said.

But that will not discourage the veteran ambassador, who plans to intensify his advertising efforts by placing ads in major magazines and newspapers and also promoting tourism to the Land of the Gods every chance he gets.

Avierinos has already put the wheels in motion to work with the Greek tourism office in Tokyo. He also did not exclude the possibility of opening an office in Seoul sometime in the future.

"We will continue our discussion for a direct line because this crisis is not going to last forever."

Many first-time visitors arrive in Greece with specific images in mind and are surprised to discover a country with regional and architectural diversity.

In Greece, visitors stand at a crossroads of cultures, colors and civilizations and feel the strength of the country`s history and the warmth of being in the southernmost part of Europe. There is an evolutionary process of thought, influence and experience there.

But Greece is more than tourism. It is also the No. 1 shipping country.

While the economic crunch has brought down the tourism numbers, the backlog of deliveries found in local shipyards is still on the move.

"The good thing is that the ships are delivered with no delays and are paid for without any delays, which is even more important," he said.

Avierinos is realistic: While the month of April saw six ships delivered from Korea to Greece, the reality is that the demand for maritime transport is going to decrease.

"While these numbers are just in Korea, we know that Korean firms have invested in shipyards outside of Korea like Vietnam and China so some of the orders are being reoriented towards those shipyards which might be cheaper," he said.

According to trade data, Greece is a very good market for traditional Korean products, but on the flip side, Greek products have not yet made a splash in the local marketplace.

Last year, trade between both countries reached $1.5 billion, out of which Greek exports amounted to $60 million. The bulk of the trade was in shipping orders, adding to more than $1 billion.

The Korea-European Union free trade agreement will help Greece increase its imports here.

As an example Avierinos pointed that canned peaches from Greece used to be highly popular in this country until recent years when China entered the game.

While China is right next door, Chile enjoys free trade, which brings down the price of canned peaches significantly and in doing so, prices Greek peaches out of the market.

Culture is also an important facet of the relationship. Every year ancient Greek tragedies are performed at the National Theater; this year will not be any different. Seoulites will enjoy top quality tragedies written by some of the greats like Sophocles and Euripides just to name a couple.

In the summer of 2004, Athens welcomed the world to enjoy what they started millenniums ago.

Hosting the Olympics does bring fame and recognition to a city. It also brings tourism, but sometimes tourism numbers drop, like in the case of Montreal after 1976.

For Greece, hosting the games was worth it, Avierinos said.

"It helped Greece and Athens mainly with some serious infrastructure work that was done on the occasion of the Olympics," he said. "A number of the sites are currently being used for sports purposes; others have been designated to other uses."

He explained that two Greek ministries moved their head offices from downtown Athens to some of the Olympic venues.

One stadium that was not going to get many matches after the Olympics was the badminton venue.

"Greeks are not big on the game," he said. Now that stadium houses a successful theater.

"This is an opportunity for Korean real estate development firms and construction companies to participate in the ongoing programs to transform those Olympic buildings into something else. There is room for cooperation," he said.

By Yoav Cerralbo



(yoav@heraldm.com)