GREEK tourist officials are attempting to end confusion among customers by introducing a new rating system for grading the country’s hotels and self-catering apartments.
The move has been welcomed by operators who say it will end an antiquated system that has been in place since the late 1960s.
In a further bid to increase quality and keep Greece at the forefront of the tourism industry, restaurants are to be graded for the first time. Among the criteria will be the choice of local cuisine that appears on the menu.
UK and Ireland director of the Hellenic Tourism Organisation, Panos Argyros, said the hotel star-grading system will more reflect the quality of the accommodation than under the previous system.
“At the moment we have a system where hotels are graded as either deluxe, A, B or C but it has been around for about 30 years,” he said. “Like anything that has been around for a while, it is in need of updating.
“The existing system does not really take into account the quality of a hotel. It looks more at things like the width of the corridors or the size of the reception rather than anything else.
“The new star rating will more reflect the quality of service such as whether the staff are English speaking. There is one hotel in Athens which has a B rating but under the new system will probably get four stars.”
Kosmar director Abhi Dighe said it should make it clearer for the customers who will know exactly what they are getting.
“The A-C rating bears no relation to the quality of the hotel,” he said. “This will be a good move for Greece.”
Argo managing director Mathilde Robert added: “It will bring Greece more in line with the rest of Europe.”
The measures are expected to be introduced for the next summer season while the restaurant ratings will be in place by mid-September.
Meanwhile, Argyros predicted another good year for Greece with holidaymakers continuing to book earlier than ever.
“In 1994, only 35% of visitors to Greece booked before April. Last year, it was 70% and that trend is continuing,” he said.
JMC reported a 3% rise in sales to Greece for this year with demand growing for uncommercialised islands. Agistri, Samos and Santorini are all new for the forthcoming season.
Priceright has also introduced Santorini along with the islands of Skopelos, Lefkas, Lesvos and Parga. New departure points have also been added although sales and marketing manager Kim Wannacott admitted the going has been tough.
“We have experienced slow sales but I believe this is a case of agents not being aware that some of these departures exist,” she said. “We are marketing via retailers to overcome this problem.”
Olympic Holidays has issued its biggest ever Greece brochure, 356 pages, with the additions of Halkidiki, Alonissos, Evia, Aegina, Poros, Andros and Spetses.
National sales manager Mark Mitchell said:”We’ve seen a tremendous start to sales. Some of the new smaller islands are likely to appeal most to older travellers or regularvisitors looking for somewhere new to go.”
However, Argo Holidays has delivered a word of warning. It claimed while 2000 has the potential to be a decent year, heavy discounting may result in a return to the bad old days of late booking.
“Greece has traditionally been a late sales market but the heavy discounting will simply reinforce the public’s perception that to wait is a good thing,” said Robert. “It could be a good year but these prices are stifling it.”