Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management

Determinants of Profitability in the Greek Tourism Sector Revisited: The Impact of the Economic Crisis
George M. Agiomirgianakis, Anastasios I. Magoutas, George Sfakianakis

Abstract
This paper examines the impact of the recent economic crisison the determinants of profitability in the Greek tourism sector. Our findings suggest that the established determinants of profitability still remain at play during the crisis which, nevertheless, appears to have severely hit the tourism sector (one of the main industries in Greece). As the quest for growth drivers for the Greek economy is still valid, this fact should be taken into account both at the microeconomic level and at the macroeconomic level, i.e., for a policy maker who could derive significant conclusions on how to support or stimulate investment activity in the sector. More specifically, our results suggest that, apart from the effect of already established determinants of profitability, the current economic crisis should, on one hand, induce entrepreneurs to adopt appropriate risk aversion strategies and on the other hand, prompt the Greek state to follow a more active policy in supporting the Tourism sector by the use of subsidies and taxes.

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