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The dramatic drop in tourist traffic this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic did not affect the hotel industry as much as one might imagine, but also a number of other products that we may not have thought of.
For example, last month data shows that there is a rapid drop in the demand for wine that exceeds even 40% due to COVID-19.
The vintage is bitter
Producers are convinced that this year’s harvest will be bitter. The year had started with the best omens. In both January and February, everything showed that things would go very well for the industry, until the coronavirus pandemic broke out in our country. From there, the Greek wine market fell into the hands of the Tatars. While it lasted emergency shutdown people seem to have chosen not to buy wine, preferring to spend their money on more essential goods.
At the same time, exports fell dramatically, as they did not even want to drink abroad, apparently to forget. As a result, however, countless liters of unsold wine were left in the tanks. At the Avantis estate, for example, which is located on the outskirts of the city of Chalkida, at the beginning of the year there was an increase in sales compared to the same time last year of the order of 20%, sometimes even more.
The cellars and barrels are full
But as soon as the coronavirus appeared, the demand on all farms plummeted, as a result of which the balance is now trying to stabilize even at nothing insignificant minus 40%. At the same time restaurants, taverns and more restaurants They have made it clear that they won’t be able to buy wines this season because they simply don’t have customers to sell them to. They will move with what they still have in their holds.
A blow also to the brewery
Unfortunately, the same goes for beers that remain unsold, especially those that come from local breweries throughout Greece, which tend to be a bit more expensive. “The loss of millions of visitors to our country in 2020 inevitably significantly affects the market and the Greek economy in general. “Unfortunately, none of the scenarios we work on comes close to last year’s numbers,” says the president and CEO. Athenian Brewery Mr. Alexandros Daniilidis, who spoke about this at the online conference “The Greek Tourism Debate”.
A ray of hope for soft drinks
The same scenario prevails, however, in the field of soft drinks, which tends to reach record sales in the summer months, since more or less everyone looks for a bit of freshness in them. “The decline in tourism will obviously affect the size of our company”, says from his side Mr. Giannis Papachristou, general manager of Coca Cola 3E. But it also gives a small note of optimism, adding that it may appear that we have a relative return to normalcy. In fact, because he knows that the recovery of the economy is, among other things, a question of psychological factors, he proposes to take actions that aim right there, to stimulate the psychology of consumers. “It makes no sense to cry over spilled milk, but to see what we can do to get back faster,” he said.
Feta cheese stays in the barrels
Let’s look at another example of a product that is very affected at the moment and that may not come to mind from the beginning: the traditional and delicious feta. This summer this type of cheese has been left in the barrels since few people buy it. Its sales since the beginning of the year now register a 30% drop that seems to continue, since it still does not supply its stores from restaurants. In other conditions, these days whole tons would be sold to compose together with tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, peppers and olive oil the Greek salad that is offered to tourists, which is the classic village salad.. “Unfortunately, the millions of tourists we were expecting did not come and now we are just trying to survive,” said Giorgos Apostolopoulos, president of the Hellenic Association of the Dairy Industry (SEVGAP).
We were full of supplies
In your first time coronavirus Everyone frantically bought products from stacked food shelves, sanitary ware, detergents, and whatever else they could think of, thinking that no one could guarantee for sure when the quarantine would end. As a result, the shelves filled up and then sales fell as everyone had everything in their house and in a fairly large capacity.
Dating with tourists, in 2021
Now hopes will be in the summer of 2021 with the prospect that by then we will have been rid of the pandemic, as our scientific community promises that the appropriate vaccine or drug against the Covid pandemic will be launched early next year. 19 so that all this is a bad adventure that we will have left behind. In any case, its signs will remain etched in the economy for a long time.
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