Understanding the tour operators' point of view for effectively marketing a tourist destination: The case of Athens

Understanding the tour operators’ point of view

for effectively marketing a tourist destination:
The case of Athens
Dimitris Koutoulas
Paris Tsartas
Andreas Papatheodorou
Elina Prountzou

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Tour operators have been the most important facilitators of international travel in Europe dur-
ing the last five decades. The present paper focuses on Athens and is the result of a research
project conducted by the University of the Aegean on behalf of ATEDCO, the City of Ath-
ens’ newly founded tourist board. This work explores ways of attracting more inclusive tour
travellers to Athens based on the findings of an international survey among tour operators.

Keywords: tour operations, tourism marketing, Athens, Greece

1. INTRODUCTION

Tour operators have been the most important facilitators of international travel in Europe dur-
ing the last five decades (see, for instance, Hebestreit, 1992). Despite the growing use of the
Internet for planning trips independently, the majority of Europeans still book packaged tours
for their international travel as in the case of Germans and British (Gruner + Jahr, 2009a; Of-
fice for National Statistics, 2008). The marketing effort of both individual suppliers of tourist
services (at the micro level) and destination marketing organisations (at the macro level) is
to a large extent oriented towards finding ways of better understanding tour operators and,
thus, of more effectively motivating them to send more tourists to a business or a destination
(Krippendorf, 1971; Freyer, 1999; Koutoulas, 2001).

Supporting decision making with market research is the proper way to plan the marketing
task of a tourist destination (see, for instance, Middleton, 1988; Freyer, 1999). Many local,
regional or national tourism organisations rely on professionally conducted research in order
to make strategic decisions and to allocate marketing funds in the best possible manner. How-
ever, there are still destinations (as was the case of Athens until recently) that do not adhere
to the most basic principles of marketing planning.

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 Dimitris Koutoulas, Paris Tsartas, Andreas Papatheodorou, Elina Prountzou

The present paper focuses on Athens and is the result of a research project conducted by the
University of the Aegean on behalf of ATEDCO, the City of Athens’ newly founded tourist
board. This work explores ways of attracting more inclusive tour travellers to Athens based
on the findings of an international survey among tour operators. This is perhaps the first time
that local authorities of Athens have used scientific research as a direct input into tourism
planning.

2. THE INFLUENCE OF TOUR OPERATORS ON TOURIST TRAFFIC TO A DESTINATION

Tour operators have been a major force in shaping tourist traffic in Europe (Koutoulas, 2006).
International trips – once a luxury that only wealthy people could indulge in – became afford-
able for almost the entire population of industrialised European nations after the introduction
of inclusive tours. By utilising charter flights and by buying hotel capacity in bulk, tour op-
erators were able to offer inclusive tours at a price significantly lower than the total sum each
consumer would have paid if they had bought the components individually and directly from
the respective providers (i.e. airlines, hotels etc.). Inclusive tours have been the backbone of
the rapid development especially of Mediterranean-bound international leisure travel that
emerged on a massive scale over the last five decades. For instance, of all international trips
made by Germans in 2006, 58.5% were organised by tour operators (Forschungsgemein-
schaft Urlaub und Reisen, 2007).

Tour operators are acting both as producers (by putting together individual components and
thus creating a new product – the inclusive tour – offered at an overall price) and as distribu-
tors in the marketplace. In the latter capacity, they play the role of wholesalers by buying
room and airline seat capacities in bulk and by selling their inclusive tours through retail
travel agencies. Hebestreit (1992:20-21) defines the ready-made inclusive tour (as opposed
to the tailor-made one) as “a service package comprising at least two complementary travel
services; it is created in advance for a yet unknown customer and is offered at a total price,
with the prices of the individual services not being identifiable.”

The largest part of the business generated by European tour operators corresponds to sea-and-
sun holidays mostly in Mediterranean destinations (Koutoulas, 2006). However, other forms
of travel such as sightseeing tours and city breaks command a significant share among in-
clusive tours. Numerous tour operators actually specialise in certain forms of travel and deal
exclusively with these niche markets. There are, for instance, some small and medium-sized
tour operators offering only city breaks, while most among the large firms have dedicated
units or subsidiaries serving this market. On the German market, for example, mega opera-
tors TUI and Thomas Cook compete with specialist operators such as Ameropa and Dertour
for market share in the city breaks market (Gruner + Jahr, 2008).

The advent of low-cost carriers and the growing use of the Internet for booking flights and
accommodation have to some extent counterbalanced the immense market power of tour
operators over the last decade. Individual travellers are now able to easily prepare their trips

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Understanding the tour operators' point of view for effectively marketing a tourist destination: The case of Athens

by themselves through the Internet and at a cost that is comparable to inclusive tour prices.
This has led to loss of market share by tour operators; however they still dominate the Med-
iterranean-bound leisure travel (Koutoulas, 2006). For instance, eight million out of twelve
million tourists from European Union member countries arrived in Greece in 2007 on charter
flights used by tour operators, with charter flight passengers commanding an 80%, 75% and
60% share among all British, Swedish and German tourists vacationing in Greece in that
year, respectively (General Secretariat of National Statistical Service of Greece, 2009). One
single tour operator – Germany-based TUI – contributes 30% of all Greece-bound tourists
from twelve West and North European countries that TUI operates in (Koutoulas, 2007).

Some of the major tour operators were quick to react to the growing market share of low-cost
airlines and web-based booking platforms. TUI, for instance, has transformed some of its air-
lines into low-cost carriers and has created state-of-the-art Internet platforms with dynamic
packaging capabilities.

3. THE MARKET FOR CITY BREAKS

City breaks can be defined as travel experiences for culture, fun and entertainment in a city
and its surroundings with duration of up to three days (THR, PRC and MRB, 2007). Most
popular city break destinations in Europe are London and Paris, followed by cities in Germa-
ny (Berlin, Munich), Spain (Barcelona, Madrid), Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice), the Czech
Republic (Prague), Austria (Vienna), the Netherlands (Amsterdam) etc. (Prountzou, 2008).

City breaks are estimated to represent 15% of all trips between European countries (Gruner
+ Jahr, 2009b). For instance, 4.2 million Germans – or 6.5% of its total population over 14
years – made city trips outside of Germany in 2008; however Athens could only attract ap-
prox. 70,000 German visitors. (German tourists amount to 2.3 million per year in Greece.)
Only a part of these 70,000 Germans are actually on a city break; they also include busi-
ness travellers, congress delegates etc. (General Secretariat of National Statistical Service of
Greece, 2009).

No separate statistics are kept at the destination level in regard to city breaks. Available infor-
mation refers only to total overnight stays made by all visitors of a city and does not make a
distinction between city breaks and other forms of travel (e.g. business trips, congress attend-
ance etc.). Nevertheless, these statistics are an indication of the popularity of leading urban
destinations. For instance, leading the way in Europe is London (with 119 million overnight
stays in tourist accommodations in 2007), Paris (with 36 million overnight stays), Rome (20
million), Berlin (17 million) and Barcelona (15 million). In comparison, Athens achieved
around five million overnight stays that same year (Tsartas et al., 2008).

Tour operators represent 60% of tourists visiting Greece (Koutoulas, 2006). This percentage
may be lower in the case of Athens; however, tour operator-generated city breaks remain

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 Dimitris Koutoulas, Paris Tsartas, Andreas Papatheodorou, Elina Prountzou

a largely untapped market for the Greek capital. In an effort to stimulate the demand for
Athens-bound trips, the market of both independent travellers and tour operator customers
can be targeted as part of an integrated marketing strategy (Tsartas et al., 2008).

4. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY

A study was assigned by the Athens Tourism & Economic Development Company (ATED-
CO), i.e. the tourist board founded by the City of Athens, with the broader aim of appraising
the impact of the 2004 Olympic Games on the city’s tourism sector (Tsartas et al., 2008). This
study focused, among other topics, on the role of tour operators in order for the city authori-
ties of Athens to identify ways of growing visitor traffic generated by them.

As part of this study, a survey among tour operators was conducted. The objectives of this
survey were:

• to assess how the demand for trips to Athens has evolved during the post-Olympic
period for each tour operator;
• to determine the position of Athens compared to competitive destinations;
• to understand the outlook of Athenian tourism in the international marketplace.

After taking into consideration experience gained from previous research among tour opera-
tors (e.g. Koutoulas, 2003), the survey has been kept as simple as possible in order to maxim-
ise participation. The questionnaire was limited to 12 questions focussing on the experience
and the perceptions of senior tour operator staff and their day-to-day work in selling city
tours. Questions asking for potentially sensitive or confidential information were omitted.

The survey was carried out during the period of May-June 2008. The survey’s sample of 217
tour operators based in Europe, Australia and the USA was compiled from industry databases
as well as from lists provided by the overseas offices of the Greek National Tourism Organi-
sation.

A self-administered 12-item questionnaire was used to collect the required data. The ques-
tionnaire structure reflected the aim of the survey to support local authorities and industry
bodies in their decision making process. Therefore, questions were put and completed ques-
tionnaires were analysed in such a way that straightforward answers could be provided to
those end users of the survey.

The questionnaire was sent by e-mail to senior staff overseeing city tours at their companies.
An introductory text stated the purpose of the survey and explained how the provided data
would be used. An attached MS Word file contained the questionnaire. Respondents had the
choice of returning the completed questionnaire by e-mail or by fax. Many of the recipients
of the questionnaire also received a phone call explaining the objectives of the research. Two
waves of follow-up mailings and phone calls followed in order to reach the targeted response

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Understanding the tour operators' point of view for effectively marketing a tourist destination: The case of Athens

rate of 15% that was set in accordance with experience from previous research among tour
operators (Koutoulas, 2003).

The achieved response rate of the survey was 19%, with 41 out of the 217 sampled com-
panies returning completed and usable questionnaires until the cut-off date in June 2008.
Respondents were from the main source countries of Athenian tourism and included all types
of tour operators ranging from highly specialised small firms to mega operators including
companies.

RESEARCH FINDINGS

Profile of tour operators that participated in the survey

73% of replies came from European tour operators, mostly based in the UK, Germany, Bul-
garia, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands. 15% of the replies originated in Australia and
the remaining 12% were from the USA.

Customers visiting cities represented 25% of the total volume of trips organised by the sur-
veyed tour operators. Seaside holiday trips contributed another 32% followed by escorted
multi-destination sightseeing and cultural tours corresponding to 17% of all trips sold. 68%
of their customers chose a European destination, with 11% and 9% opting for the Americas
and Asia, respectively (Table 1).

The position of Athens in the tourist market following the 2004 Olympic Games

The surveyed companies were asked to evaluate the impact of the 2004 Olympic Games 2004
on the tourist image of Athens based on a scale from -5 (very negative impact) to +5 (very
positive impact). The average score was 2.7 showing that the Games significantly enhanced
the image of Athens in the global tourist market (Figure 1). Still, there were a few tour opera-
tors that stated that the Games didn’t help or even had a negative impact on the standing of
Athens (6 out of 41 companies of the sample). Nevertheless, the vast majority (85%) consid-
ers the impact of the Games as positive.

59% of the sampled operators stated that their clients’ interest to visit Athens was positively
influenced by the 2004 Olympic Games (Table 2). This growing interest resulted from the
city’s radically enhanced transport infrastructure (subway, tram, road network, airport) men-
tioned by many survey participants as well as the image of a modern European capital that
was attributed to Athens since the successful hosting of the 2004 Olympics. Some compa-
nies, however, mentioned that the increased demand for trips to Athens right after the Games
was short-lived, as it has significantly softened since 2007.

30 out of 41 sampled tour operators provided data concerning the number of their clients
travelling to Athens between 2003 and 2007 (Table 3). 60% of the companies mentioned an

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 Dimitris Koutoulas, Paris Tsartas, Andreas Papatheodorou, Elina Prountzou

increase over this period as far as trips to Athens were concerned, 27% a decrease and 13% a
steady number of visitors. These 30 operators sent a total of 38,073 tourists to Athens, 32%
more than in 2003.

45% of the surveyed operators stated that Athens outperformed other urban destinations in
regard to sales trends, while 20% stated that Athens trailed the growth rates of other cities in
their programmes (Table 4).

Particularly interesting are the comments of the tour operators concerning the advantages
and disadvantages of Athens as a tourist destination and also in comparison with their most
popular urban destinations. The strong and weak points of Athens are the following (most
frequently occurring answers are presented in descending order):

Strong points of Athens as a tourist destination:

• Strong name recognition of Athens; everyone knows it
• Newer and more ‘exotic’ destination compared to the established European cities.
• There are many things that a visitor can see and do
• A richer history than that of other cities commanding great historic monuments (es-
pecially the Acropolis) and museums (especially the Benaki Museum and the Na-
tional Archaeological Museum)
• Lifestyle (e.g. gastronomy, nightlife and shopping)
• Climate
• Picturesque city districts such as Plaka and Monastiraki
• Warm and hospitable residents
• A wide range of guided tours and activities
• Mediterranean atmosphere, warm sea, beaches, vicinity to islands
• Quality and variety of hotel accommodation
• Transport infrastructure (especially the subway), security, proximity to the sea etc.

Weak points of Athens as a tourist destination:

• Traffic congestion
• Air and noise pollution
• Less established destination and unattractive image compared to that of other Euro-
pean cities.
• Large distance from countries of origin and high cost of air transport.
• Limited number of sights.
• Limited options for entertainment and shopping.
• Lack of green and recreation space.
• The cost of services such as expensive hotels and guided tours, high local costs
• Lack of professionalism and incidents of bad service.
• Deficient cleanliness, appearance of certain parts of the city etc.

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Understanding the tour operators' point of view for effectively marketing a tourist destination: The case of Athens

These replies include an obvious contradiction as some survey participants consider Athens
as a place with many things for the visitor to see and to do, while others think of Athens as a
city with limited options in regard to sights, entertainment and shopping.

The tour operators were asked to compare Athens to their three most popular city break des-
tinations. Since the sample included several tour operators that specialise in trips to Greece
and the East Mediterranean, Athens and Istanbul were among the most frequently mentioned
leading destinations together with Rome (the most popular), Paris and London. A listing of
the most popular cities among the surveyed tour operators as well as the strong points of each
city is presented in Table 5. Some very interesting attributes can be derived from how senior
staff of tour operators considers a place as an attractive city break destination:

• Easy accessibility, i.e. short flight distance, cost and frequency of flights or hav-
ing the alternative to travel by car or train is an obvious factor for short trips as in
the case of city breaks. Athens has a disadvantage in this regard (due to its remote
location when compared to other popular cities) and local authorities should work
towards attracting more low-cost carriers. They should also develop the proper sales
arguments as to why Athens is worth a longer and costlier flight.

• Variety and contrasts, i.e. having the choice among many different and diverse ac-
tivities, is a most desirable attribute for a city break destination. Athens has failed,
so far, to successfully communicate the many recreational opportunities that it offers
its visitors. Marketing activities should aim at changing the deeply rooted stereotype
among both travelers and travel professionals that Athens hasn’t much to offer be-
sides the Acropolis.

• Theproper mix of admiring (e.g. visiting sights and attending cultural events) and
indulging (e.g. shopping, enjoying food or nightlife and bathing in the sea) appears
to be the key point for a travel professional organizing city breaks. Athenian authori-
ties should work towards convincing those professionals that the city offers a most
attractive mix of both elements.

• For many surveyed tour operators it all seems to boil down tovalue for money,
especially when considering the affordability of some of Europe’s most popular
city break destinations such as Barcelona, Berlin and Prague. Athenian authorities
should monitor the value of the city’s tourist offerings as perceived by visitors and as
compared to other destinations and provide specific pricing guidelines to local busi-
nesses.

• Several tour operators stressed the fact that they expectprofessional conduct from
their local suppliers in city break destinations. Introducing a quality improvement
policy and acknowledging that Athenian tourist businesses provide superior services
is an obvious route to follow for local authorities.

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 Dimitris Koutoulas, Paris Tsartas, Andreas Papatheodorou, Elina Prountzou

In order to better understand the competitive environment of Athens and to identify the best
practices in the field of urban tourism, the tour operators were questioned on the cities that, in
their opinion, practice the most efficient marketing. Their replies are as follows:

City break destinations considered by the surveyed tour operators as most efficient in mar-
keting (most frequently mentioned cities)

• Paris • Amsterdam
• Barcelona • Vienna
• Rome • Madrid
• London • Berlin

Outlook of Athens-bound travel

Half of the surveyed tour operators (52%) expect that the demand for trips to Athens will
remain more or less the same in the years to come, while one out of three (35%) anticipates
an increase. Only 13% of the tour operators questioned expect a decrease in the tourist flow
to Athens.

Tour operators were also asked how ATEDCO could support them in selling more trips to
Athens. The most frequently mentioned recommendations made by tour operators include to
regularly provide travel professionals with information on what Athens has to offer, to organ-
ise familiarisation trips in order to gain better knowledge of the destination, to upgrade the
Internet presence of Athens, to highlight other aspects of the city besides its historic sights as
well as to work towards enhancing quality at the destination.

5. RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

The Olympic Games definitely contributed to enhancing the city’s standing in the city break
market and to growing Athens-bound visitor traffic, however, interest to travel to Athens
among tour operator clients started to fade in 2008, i.e. four years after the 2004 Olympics.
This negative trend was further intensified in late 2008 by the impact of the global economic
recession as well as by large-scale riots that took place in Athens and generated extensive
negative publicity internationally.

This drop in tourist arrivals shows that Athens has to put in more effort to recuperate losses
and, thus, to regain the high visitation levels of the three post-Olympic years. A key to attract-
ing more tourists is to market more efficiently to tour operators.

Part of the surveyed tour operators are well informed about the greatly improved infrastruc-
ture and new visitor attractions, however, many still draw attention to the city’s traffic and
pollution issues. There is also a significant share among those travel professionals who are
unaware of many appealing facets of the city besides the Acropolis and the major museums.

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Understanding the tour operators' point of view for effectively marketing a tourist destination: The case of Athens

Three strategic priorities in regard to growing tour operator-generated tourist traffic to Athens
can be clearly derived from the research findings:

• Repositioning Athens and enhancing its image as a world-class city break

destination;
• Enhancing existing tourist offerings and developing new products;
• Selling Athens more efficiently.

There is an obvious challenge concerning deeply rooted perceptions and stereotypes about
Athens. A well-designed repositioning exercise is required in order for the city’s tourism
authorities to downplay the partly justified, partly exaggerated negative attributes associated
with Athens. Instead, the greatly improved public transportation network, the better air qual-
ity, the regenerated districts of Athens and the creation of new visitor attractions should be
stressed. Repositioning the city should focus on the duality that is so typical of Athens: the
universal appeal of the city’s past and of its world-class historic sites and museums versus
all the trappings of a vibrant modern metropolis such as the wide range of cultural and culi-
nary offerings; the numerous shopping and nightlife options; trendy hotels and spas; and the
choice of outdoor activities in and near the city and on the sea. The five attributes of attractive
city break destinations that were derived from the tour operator survey and presented in the
previous section, should provide the guidelines for the proposed repositioning exercise, i.e.
(i) easy accessibility; (ii) variety and contrasts; the (iii) proper mix of admiring and indulg-
ing; (iv) value for money; (v) and professional conduct of local suppliers.

A second strategic priority is to focus on products, i.e. to enhance quality of existing offer-
ings and to develop new products for the city break market such as special-interest itineraries
and visitor activities beyond the historic city centre.

A third strategic priority should be to better organise promotional activities aimed at tour
operators and their clients. Tour operators need to become more knowledgeable and more
motivated in order for them to sell more trips to Athens and to offer a more varied range of
Athens-bound itineraries. For this purpose, the city’s tourism authorities should consider,
among others, a more aggressive web presence, a training programme for tour operators and
travel agents by inviting them to take part in familiarisation trips as well as the regular distri-
bution of information and content about Athens to travel professionals.

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 Dimitris Koutoulas, Paris Tsartas, Andreas Papatheodorou, Elina Prountzou

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Table 1
Q1. Average share of customers among surveyed tour operators per type of packaged
tour and per continent visited (Ν = 37)
Escorted sightseeing
Trips to Seaside & cultural tours to Other
cities holiday trips Skiing multiple destinations Cruises trips
25% 32% 3% 17% 8% 16%
Trips to Trips to Asia Trips to the Trips to Africa
Europe & Oceania Americas and the Middle East Multi-continent travel
68% 9% 11% 7% 5%

Source: Tsartas, P., Koutoulas, D., Papatheodorou, A. and Prountzou, El. (2008). Study of Athenian Tour-
ism from the Pre-Olympic to the Post-Olympic Period. Athens: University of the Aegean & ATEDCO

Figure 1
Q2. Average score of the sssessment of the impact that the 2004 Olympic Games had
on the image of Athens as a tourist destination (Ν = 41)

2,7
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Very negative impact No impact at all Very positive impact

Source: Tsartas, P., Koutoulas, D., Papatheodorou, A. and Prountzou, El. (2008). Study of Athenian Tour-
ism from the Pre-Olympic to the Post-Olympic Period. Athens: University of the Aegean & ATEDCO

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 Dimitris Koutoulas, Paris Tsartas, Andreas Papatheodorou, Elina Prountzou

Τable 2
Q3. Change caused by the 2004 Olympic Games among the clients of surveyed tour
operators regarding their interest to visit Athens (N = 39)
Positively influenced their clients Negatively influenced their clients No influence on their clients
59% 3% 38%

Source: Tsartas, P., Koutoulas, D., Papatheodorou, A. and Prountzou, El. (2008). Study of Athenian Tourism
from the Pre-Olympic to the Post-Olympic Period. Athens: University of the Aegean & ATEDCO

Table 3
Q4. Comparison of client numbers sent by surveyed tour operators to Athens in 2003
and in 2007 (N = 30)
Athens-bound Athens-bound Change between
clients in 2003 clients in 2007 2003 and 2007
All respondents: 28,797 38,073 32%
Tour operators with Tour operators with Tour operators with
increased numbers decreased numbers the same number
of Athens-bound of Athens-bound of Athens-bound
clients between clients between clients between
2003 and 2007 2003 and 2007 2003 and 2007
Share among
surveyed operators: 60% 27% 13%
Average change
(unweighted): 208% -38% 0%

Source: Tsartas, P., Koutoulas, D., Papatheodorou, A. and Prountzou, El. (2008). Study of Athenian Tourism
from the Pre-Olympic to the Post-Olympic Period. Athens: University of the Aegean & ATEDCO

Table 4
Q5. Sales trends for trips to Athens as compared to trips to other cities following the
2004 Olympic Games (Ν = 40)
The sales trends for trips to Athens compared to trips greater the same lower
to other cities have been: 45% 35% 20%
Source: Tsartas, P., Koutoulas, D., Papatheodorou, A. and Prountzou, El. (2008). Study of Athenian Tour-
ism from the Pre-Olympic to the Post-Olympic Period. Athens: University of the Aegean & ATEDCO

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Understanding the tour operators' point of view for effectively marketing a tourist destination: The case of Athens

Table 5
Q8. The most popular urban destinations for the tour operators of the sample (pre-
sented in descending order according to frequency of reference) and their strong
points based on comments from surveyed tour operators (N = 37)
Most popular
cities Strong points of each city
Rome City of arts, food, culture, history, shopping, lifestyle. High level of services,
professionalism everywhere. Pope. Short flight distance from most European
countries.
Paris Appeal, style and history. Quick and easy access by train, vast variety of
sights and guided tours. Culture, shopping, food, lifestyle, atmosphere,
romance, theatres.
London Lifestyle, shopping, fashion. Low-cost flights, variety of sightseeing. History
and diversity. Professionalism always and everywhere, operators can count on
their suppliers. Theatre, musicals.
Athens Departure point for cruises, interesting place for educated people. Culture,
climate, history. Sailing and other water-bound recreation.
Istanbul Departure point for cruises, interesting place for educated people. Crossroad
between East and West. Easy road access from Sofia. Inexpensive destination
with great historic and cultural interest. Many monuments. Diversity. Good
hotel rates.
Berlin Capital with historic sights, shopping. All German cities are easily accessible
and there are always special offers from tourist companies. One can count on
his suppliers that are attentive to detail and can guarantee happy customers.
Attractive hotel rates.
Prague Easily accessible and inexpensive, has lots of places to visit. Culture,
attractive prices, new destination. Shopping. Polite cordial people.
Barcelona Culture, attractive prices, new destination. Low-cost flights, pleasant climate,
vast variety of sights and guided tours. Unique architecture, cleanliness.
Source: Tsartas, P., Koutoulas, D., Papatheodorou, A. and Prountzou, El. (2008). Study of Athenian Tourism
from the Pre-Olympic to the Post-Olympic Period. Athens: University of the Aegean & ATEDCO

Table 6
Q11. Expectations of tour operators regarding the future demand for trips to Athens
(Ν = 40)
Demand for trips to Athens is expected to: increase stay the same decrease
35% 52% 13%
Source: Tsartas, P., Koutoulas, D., Papatheodorou, A. and Prountzou, El. (2008). Study of Athenian Tourism
from the Pre-Olympic to the Post-Olympic Period. Athens: University of the Aegean & ATEDCO

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