Pricing pressure on hoteliers

Austrian travel organizations are calling Greek hoteliers to lower their prices in order to reverse a declining trend in holiday bookings for Greece by Austrians.   According to comments made by representatives of Austria’s largest travel organizations to Austrian newspapers, this year’s bookings for Greece were down 20 percent compared with last year’s levels and said Greek hotel prices must become more attractive. They said that Austrian tourists to Greece fell to 480,000 last year from 600,000 in 2007 (an historic high number), evidence that Greece is losing market share from Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Germany.   Austrian travel agencies, however, expect holiday bookings for Greece to rise in the coming months as they have expanded their Greek programmes, while several low-cost airlines have begun raising their charter flights to Greek destinations. Recently, Lauda Air raised its weekly flights to 19 Greek destinations to 63 flights from 58 earlier, while Fly Niki raised its weekly flights to 42 from 40.   Greece ranks among the most popular travel destinations for Austrians. (AMNA)