All 7 tribes of shoppers have cut down on expenditurBYe

Greece can only expect a moderate increase in Chinese tourism arrivals this year, less than 10 percent up on last season, according to the General Panhellenic Federation of Tourism Enterprises (GEPOET), which took part in the ITB China 2017 fair earlier this month.

GEPOET notes that the signs from China are favorable but not spectacular. So far group trips are lagging compared to personalized packages that Chinese tourists can easy find through online agents. It also stresses that it will take a long, persistent and systematic effort for Greece to tap the Chinese market for the desired level of holidaymakers from that country.

In any case, the federation estimates the situation could show a sudden shift only if direct flights are launched between Athens and Beijing. In this context it argues that “according to information that is pending confirmation, Air China and China Eastern Air Lines are planning to start flights to Athens as of September, as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced during his recent visit to China.”

The latest official figures from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) and the Bank of Greece show tourism arrivals from China came to 17,329 in the first half of 2016, down 27.6 percent from the Consumers have cut their supermarket spending by up to 38 percent from 2015, according to an MRB Hellas survey. It revealed that the reduction in monthly expenditure not only concerns consumers who could not afford to spend much, but also those who up until a few years ago viewed shopping as a pleasure and liked to check out new products.

The study, presented at a recent ECR Hellas conference, broke the Greek consumer public down into seven “tribes,” all of which have been forced to cut down on puchases.

They are the “budget-conscious,” who account for 34 percent of consumers and spend 185 euros a month against 214 euros in 2015, the “smart shoppers,” representing the 31 percent of consumers who have reduced their supermarket trips, spending 222 euros/month from 230 euros two years ago, the “hurried buyers,” who are just 8 percent against 11 percent in 2015 and spend 269 euros a month from 274 euros in 2015, the “gourmet shoppers,” who have cut down their spending from 510 to 403 euros in two years, the “day-out shoppers,” who have shrunk from 8 to 5 percent, the “not-again consumers,” who view shopping as a tedious process and have increased from 7 to 10 percent, and the “let-me-see buyers,” who spend 488 euros, down from 499.