Crisis, debts, corruption - this is what we associated with Greece until a few years ago. Today it is different: the country is growing and attracting tens of millions of tourists. How did it achieve this?
Sun and sea, beautiful beaches and islands - this is what Greece makes money from. Tourism accounts for 30% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), writes the German public media ARD, quoting German expert Christian Kopf from Union Investment.
"Greece is a small economy that is oriented towards tourism - something like the Florida of Europe. It attracts many people because it is simply a pleasant place to live," says Christian Kopf. He well remembers the time when Greece was on the verge of bankruptcy - despite its wonderful resources.
"In 2011 Greece was hit by a severe financial crisis. At that time, the state had taken on very large debts, but there was also a huge budget deficit, and investors were no longer ready to finance it," the expert told ARD.
Germany is the largest investor
Years later, during which Greece had to take more than one or two emergency loans, everything now looks good: the state budget has been restored and the country can again borrow money on the capital market under more favorable conditions. Greece is investing a lot of these funds in infrastructure, attracting foreign investors, explains Marian Wend, head of the Athens office of the German "Konrad Adenauer" Foundation.
With 20 percent of foreign investments, Germany is the largest investor in Greece, followed by Italy, he adds. Along with tourism, other interesting sectors are digitalization, energy and healthcare, ARD points out.
Logistics hub between Orient and Occident
In 2024, the Greek economy grew by 2.3% - mainly thanks to tourism, but not only to it. Greece has also recently emerged as a logistics hub, points out Wend. "Greece is located between Orient and Occident, and with its port in Piraeus it plays the role of a logistics hub, serving the new markets in the Balkans very well," he says.
Greece is a gateway to Europe, which China is skillfully taking advantage of - it is China that holds 51% of the key port in Piraeus. During the debt crisis, Greece's creditors insisted that it privatize the port in Piraeus, recalls Christian Kopf. According to him, it was not particularly far-sighted to give such a strategic port to the Chinese. "Now they are using it as a gateway to southern Europe for their exports," the expert said.
Greece has also been criticized for its so-called "golden visas" for Chinese investors. If they invest 400,000 euros in the country, foreign investors from non-EU countries receive a free visa to the Schengen area. For large Greek cities and densely populated islands, the amount has since been increased to 800,000 euros. Marian Wendt has estimated that around 3 billion euros have entered Greece this way.
What can we learn from Greece?
Despite all the criticism, investor confidence is returning and tourists are coming in droves. 40 million visited the country last year - four times the number of residents of the small country in the Eastern Mediterranean.
What can we learn from Greece? For example, how useful digitalization can be in the fight against undeclared income and tax evasion. "Every citizen can pay for everything with one card, at any time. If there is no such possibility somewhere, he is not obliged to pay. This prevents fraud and leads to additional tax revenues," points out Marian Wend. In addition, Greeks have more trust in the private sector than in the state, which is why they are more open to new ideas, he adds.