Greek Tourism In The Global, National And Regional Value Chains

This article analyses the relationships between international, domestic and regional value chains and tourism sector, in terms of accommodation and food service activities, in Greece. Initially, methods for determining the role of imports in tourism in the context of global value chains (GVCs) and corresponding GVC participation indicators are presented, based on the OECD trade-in-value-added database. Furthermore, suitable analytical methods are explained for estimating the backward linkages from the agricultural sector, transport and other activities into the Greek tourism sector, at both national and regional levels, and the corresponding import multiplier effects on the Greek economy. The impact of inbound tourism and of the imports of services and goods is found to perform a gradual growth, which varies with origin country and product category. In 2018, the countries having the highest value-added share in Greek tourism exports were Germany (10.6%), Italy (7.8), Russia (6.8%), France (6.2%) and the Netherlands (6.1%). The results highlight the existence of significant interregional variations in the backward linkages of tourism, with island regions having greater linkages within the tourism sector, and less backward linkages with other sectors, such as manufacturing, in contrast to the rest of the country. These empirical findings can offer a deeper understanding of the role that tourism plays in the national and regional economy and the magnitude of its impact. They can also contribute to the formulation of appropriate policies with a national and regional dimension, for the sustainable development of the tourism sector itself and related sectors of the economy that interact with tourism. Among other things, such policies may concern the development of alternative forms of tourism and partnerships aimed at creating vertically integrated value chains, both within the tourism sector and between it and other activity clusters in the Greek economy, such as agriculture, food, trade and transport.