It took one electricity bill to crush Dimitris Diavatis' hopes that his Greek summer resort could bounce back to its pre-pandemic health this year, even with bookings pouring in.
The amount was more than double what he paid this time last year when the hotel was not even open. After two sluggish summers, the irony was not lost on him: "We won't make a profit in a good year," he said. "It'll be eaten up by inflation."
Yet a bumper season is unlikely to offer much relief to struggling businesses which emerged from a decade-long financial crisis in 2018 only to have the pandemic bring global travel to a halt two years later. Speaking a day after the invasion, which Russia calls a "special operation", Greece's Retsos said it was too early to gauge its impact on the tourism sector.
Resort owner Diavatis, who also owns a year-round boutique hotel and a waterpark complex on the island, agreed. Across the sea in Italy, lockdowns and energy prices have forced many hotels to shut for good, said Marina Lalli, president of the Federturismo industry association. In Greece, the tourism minister even appealed to refugees fleeing Ukraine, offering them residence and work permits to fill 50,000 job gaps in hospitality.
In January, new motorhomes and camper vans sales were up 34.1% on an annual basis, according to the Spanish Association of the Caravanning Industry and Trade .
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