Pelion: Cyclone deals a big blow to tourism

Tourism in Pelion has been hit hard as the extreme weather events of the previous days dashed the hopes of the region’s hotel owners for a good end to the summer tourist season.

September is a lost month for Pelion hoteliers, says Constantinos Leventis, former president of the Magnesia Hoteliers Association and vice president of the Institute for Tourism Research and Forecasting (ITEP), as infrastructure has been badly damaged and there is still no water in the city.

Tourists have left, all bookings have been canceled either by the clients themselves or by the hotel owners, as they cannot offer basic services.

“We have canceled all bookings until September 15,” notes Mr. Leventis. The hotels were not affected, but problems with water supply mostly make their operation impossible.

“Mount of the Centaurs” is one of the most popular summer and winter destinations for Greek and foreign visitors. With 15,000 beds, of which 7,500 are in hotels, about 6,000 rooms for rent and about 2,500 beds for short-term rentals, the region had an excellent tourism record before the floods.

Compared to 2019, demand was strong and this resulted in good, stable prices. This summer, Pelion welcomed tens of thousands of tourists from Germany, Austria, France and Israelis. The occupancy rate of tourist sites reached 100% during the peak season.

https://rua.gr/greece/showplace/7937-na-avto-po-gore-pilion-marshrut-na-2-dnja-chast-i.html

Unfortunately, extreme weather events have destroyed not only the infrastructure, but also ruined the tourist season. “From April to June, we didn’t get off to a great start, but July and August were great. We also hoped for a very good September, as evidenced by advance bookings. And now everything has gone down the drain,” says Mr. Leventis, calling for immediate activation of the state mechanism so that compensation to businesses arrives as quickly as possible.

https://rua.gr/greece/showplace/7938-na-avtomobile-po-pilio-chast-ii-po-zemle-kentavrov.html

Steps must be taken both to restore the road network and to strengthen the business so that next season is not lost. The winter season, he estimates, will work fine if the problems are resolved. It is noted that in winter Pelion there are much fewer beds – about 4,500.

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