The Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) on Tuesday warned that 2012 would be an extremely uncertain period for Greek tourism, as it could be affected by a probable international economic recession, a recovery of North African destinations and economic developments in Greece.

Andreas Andreadis, president of the association, said a necessary precondition to maintain this year’s positive growth was to adopt a policy focusing more on development and less on tax burdens.

He presented the association’s proposals to help boost competitiveness of Greek tourism, through cutting VAT rates to 6.5 pct for tourist packages and 13 pct for restaurant services; lowering airport duties by 50 pct; rapid procedures to issue Schengen visas; combating bureaucracy, setting up a joint marketing company with Greek authorities to promote the country in foreign markets; resolving significant problems existing in downtown Athens and resolving a problem with intellectual rights.amna

Andreadis said a joint marketing company will have an initial capital of 1.0 million euros, with private investors accounting for 70 pct of the capital. The new company will promote Greece’s brand name in foreign markets using updated marketing tools.