The Tourism and Real Estate & Development Committees of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce co-organized a closed roundtable discussion titled “U.S. Investments in the Greek Tourism and Real Estate Development Industries” on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, from 11:00-14:00 at the King George Hotel.
The discussion focused on exploring challenges and opportunities in Greece’s tourism, hospitality services, and real estate development sectors, with particular emphasis on attracting foreign investments. Tim Ananiadis, Chair of the Tourism Committee, highlighted tourism as a key driver of investment in Greece, while Left Sikalidis, Chair of the Real Estate & Development Committee, stressed the importance of such discussions to build consensus and strengthen both sectors by overcoming obstacles and bureaucratic hurdles to create better conditions for sustainable investments.
The roundtable began with keynote remarks from Stellina Siarapi, Secretary General for Private Investments at the Ministry of Development, who emphasized Greece’s openness to U.S. expertise in modernizing and improving the sector, especially in infrastructure and sustainability. Vasiliki Koutsoukou, Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development at the Ministry of Tourism, reaffirmed the Greek government’s commitment to establishing tourism as a cornerstone of the country’s development strategy.
Enterprise Greece’s presentation noted that, as the foreign press reports, Southern European countries that were once on the brink of destabilizing the Eurozone are now experiencing double the growth rate of Germany. This underscores the significant investment opportunities available in Greece.
Participants also engaged in a discussion covering key industry issues such as over-tourism, the impact of the cruise industry—which contributed €1.4 billion to Greece in 2023—challenges with infrastructure, and the rise of Airbnb and short-term rentals. The importance of meeting sustainability criteria for all real estate assets by 2030 to keep Greece competitive was also emphasized. Centralized oversight and education were identified as critical factors for the sustainable development of Greece’s tourism industry.
