The tourist sector in Greece suffered its worst year in 2009 for 15 years, the private Bulgarian television channel bTV reported on February 23 2010.

Prices are expected to dip further in 2010 to offset the decline in foreign tourists. According to the report, prices might be slashed by as much as 30 per cent for the upcoming season in an attempt to revive business.

Hotels reported, on average, seven per cent fewer bookings while food and drink consumption in hotels declined by 10 per cent.

More than 4000 people who were employed in the tourist business in Athens and the surrounding region were made redundant in 2009, or 25 per cent of the total workforce in the Greek tourist industry.

Reportedly, as part of the Greek government's austerity measures, hoteliers are facing a two per cent tax increase. This has been met with hostility from the representatives of the industry, who claim that any increase in tax would force them to increase prices..

Greek restaurant proprietors have also attacked the proposed tax measure on the basis that any such measure would "really kill Greek tourism," bTV said.

In order to assure themselves of bookings for this coming summer, hoteliers are offering discount packages worth 66 per cent of the normal price of the service.

Among the economic factors affecting Greek tourism in 2009 was the weakness of the British sterling against the euro. This contributed to a decline of arrivals particularly from the UK.

On annual basis, there were 7.2 per cent fewer tourists in Greece according to the Business Monitor International, and business tourism in Athens and Thessaloníki in particular has been badly affected by the global economic downturn.

Against the backdrop of the overall retreat, however, business is not entirely depressed. A number of Greek islands, including Rhodes and the Dodecanese Islands (in the south-east Aegean), recorded growth in tourist numbers in 2009, particularly in the first half of the year.