SETE Positions

1. National General Collective Labour Agreement  As the voice of all people working in the tourism sector, and a collective body keenly aware of the need to be a responsible social player, SETE took part in the negotiations for and countersigned the National General Collective Labour Agreements for 2013 and

TAXATION ISSUES  In order for tourism to continue to perform well it’s essential to ensure that a stable tax regime is put in place, which will not create additional barriers shortly before the new tourism season starts. Recent reports about possible abolition of the reduced rate of VAT on the

1. The recent amendments to tourism business licensing procedures are a move in the right direction Following recent amendments to the provisions of Law 4276/2014, licensing procedures for tourism accommodation have now been greatly simplified. Major issues from the past have been dealt with. Specific deadlines for issuing the necessary

SETE believes that in modern economies, innovation and knowledge will gradually tend to become more important than traditional forms of capital and work. Research, innovation and knowledge generation are clearly the most important currency that universities trade in. Unfortunately, the current situation with tertiary education in Greece does not generate

The main focus of the new tax law should be as follows: Tax compliance can be enforced by creating a professional mechanism to combat tax evasion, staffed by well-paid technocrats. This will also require major investments in IT. Audits and cross-checks must be carried out continuously to convince citizens that

Tourists use taxis, rental cars and coaches to meet their travel needs on land. The memo outlines a series of proposals designed to improve the quality of taxi services and to upgrade the level of rental car services available, by making it possible to hire a driver along with the

The improvement in Greek tourism competitiveness ratings noted in 2011 was mostly due to the reduction in VAT on accommodation. However, the fact that the VAT rate on catering services was raised to 23% in early 2011 had negative repercussions on the competitiveness of the Greek tourist product, affecting the

One of the key benefits arising from any extension of the Athens International Airport (AIA) contract is the increase of tourism in Athens, and therefore the improvement of the economy and the employment in the wider area. Although AIA can handle 35 million passengers per year, it currently only handles

As part of its commitment to providing quality tourist services and to improving the experience of visitors in Greece, in early 2011 the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) proposed that archaeological sites and areas of general cultural interest could be also used as events venues. The idea is that they could

The ever increasing flexibility in tourist demand means that supply needs to adjust accordingly. The focus must be on extending and improving flexible forms of employment in tourism, and seasonal work in particular. The existing legislation does not meet the needs of businesses or employees, resulting in it being tacitly

Given that almost 40% of the country’s future growth will come from tourism (McKinsey estimate contained in the “Greece 10 years ahead” study) it is clear that a major part of the subsidies under the new development law must be invested exclusively in tourism. We consider it particularly important that

The target should be for 50% of the visas which are issued to be in the multiple visas category. To achieve that target, we propose that a 1-year visa should be issued to each tourist who visits Greece for a second time and a 3-year visa to each tourist who