Tourism is a national effort, why not Rural Development?;

A majority vote (20/12/2021) in the Hellenic Parliament passed the bill of the Ministry of Tourism «Model Tourist Destinations of Integrated Management, Management and Promotion Organizations for Tourism, Hot Springs of Greece and other regulations for the enhancement of tourism development». The Minister of Tourism Mr. Kikilias described the bill as a development bill, which strategically supports the tourism product and responds to the needs of the tourism sector, offering modern tools for tourism development in all regions of the country.

«We have €320 million available from the RRF, exactly for these tools: ports, marinas, ski resorts, spas, accessibility for the disabled, digitalisation of tourism, because the development of tourism in Greece is a national effort.» Β. Kikilias, atlantea.news, 21/12/2021.

We are pleased to see the choices made by the current state administration, which considers tourism development a national effort. In fact, we note that the entire state acts as a promoter of Greek tourism. And the support of Greek tourism entrepreneurs does not stop there. There are special forms of lending. There are special arrangements for the employment of staff. And now in the covid-19 pandemic, tourism businesses are being supported with «non-refundable» advances of state money.

At the same time we record that tourism entrepreneurs spend only 7% of their total expenditure on the supply of Greek products and services, according to the latest available CWF survey (2017). In the same survey the highest expenditure rate was recorded in Crete, with 13%. Greek tourism entrepreneurs act as dealers of imported products and services by competing with Greek products and services.

And somewhere in there it is mentioned that in Italy (with roughly similar climate and cultural characteristics) Italian hoteliers buy from the Italian market 70% of their total expenses. Good for the Italians, too bad for the Greeks.

The concern, after the covid-19 pandemic, is why it is not clear that «Rural Development is a national effort». The pervasive feeling is that farmers are not recognized as entrepreneurs, and are subjected to a strange, almost «racist», bullying.

EU agriculture ministers adopted (13/12/2021) conclusions on protecting the EU's food supply system (food security) from future threats. While existing mechanisms have succeeded in mitigating the worst effects of the recent pandemic, ministers agree that the lessons learned from COVID-19 should feed into the EU's approach to future disasters. Jože Podgoršek, Slovenian EU Presidency Minister of Agriculture. pelazkarabo.blogspot.com, 14/12/2021. (ed. Something is very slowly changing and food, its production and distribution seems to be coming back into the priorities. An ideal solution could be both Local Supply Chain and Farmer's Markets).

The Greek agri-food sector is vulnerable to domestic economic crises, according to the «World Food and Agriculture Situation» Countries need to make their agri-food systems more resilient to unexpected shocks, such as those seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the «World Food and Agriculture Situation 2021» published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). As the report, which assesses countries« resilience, states, »without adequate preparation, unforeseen crises will continue to undermine agri-food systems." N. Gargalakos, 28/11/2021. A good solution could be the organisation of Local Supply Chain, the organisation of local Farmers' Markets, the organisation of Local Quality Agreements, the support of local agri-food production systems, Socially Supported Agriculture-Socially Supported Agriculture (SSA), etc.

Greek tourism simply exploits (colonially?) the local environment (natural, technical, social, cultural, infrastructure, etc.), buys only 7% locally, leaves its revenues abroad, the profits of its businesses travel all over the world and is characterized as a national affair.

Greek agricultural activity is closely intertwined with the place, exploiting the local natural environment, the local culture, the local intangible heritage, the local production, the local employees. Greek farmers are closely linked to their place, any profits remain in the place and it is not yet a national affair...

Even Agrotourism, which is the offer of tourist services by farmers on their farms, instead of being protected as a national affair, the Ministry of Tourism supports a parasitic structure, which «illegitimately» hijacks »Agrotourism« from farmers and presents it as part of Tourism, while the part of tourism that concerns the countryside is called »Rural Tourism". It is what happens in almost all matters relating to the rural world. Somewhere there is a Joint Stock Company of Private Profit Economy, set up mainly by a bank and a technical company, which says that it represents the Social Economy Cooperatives and even represents the rural trade unionism.

Key factors for the development of agri-tourism are the need of travellers for unique, authentic experiences that incorporate elements of local tradition and community as well as the disconnection from technology and the increased interest in agricultural production. Travelers demand quality, hygiene & safety and authenticity from the providers of this product as well as easy and immediate accessibility to destinations. Key trends: specialised tourist agencies, certification of agritourism accommodation, partnerships/networks of producers and agritourism providers. And all this by farmers and of course this should also be a national effort, not just tourism «entrepreneurs».