Mykonos: The big gun of tourism and the May 15 “D-Day”

Let’s go inland and to this year’s chessboard of Mykonos. Mykonos, now an international, and not just a Greek brand, changes the terms of tourism, gathers all the new trends (but also antinomies), is kept in the central staff of tour operators, airlines, the new expanded tourist audience, the internal market and all of the political forces.

A grand link in the big tourism industry of Greece, this year also expects a winning season, expanded and strong, although covid-19 is here for a second summer and is taxing Greece, the resilience of economies, and even life itself. The eyes of all financial players are focused on destinations such as Mykonos where real estate, the branding of large companies but also the new trends of prosperity and hospitality are flourishing. At the time as this piece is being written for ot.gr, the reopening of restaurants in Mykonos is in its first week while the island is in the green zone of the pandemic, with controlled to minimal cases and a Health Center up and ready and more than adequate for the current health battle – with last year’s experience gained. The first flights from abroad are scheduled for May 14.

“Mykonos will open Greek tourism again this year, it is the diamond in the crown. On May 14 we have 4 flights. It is extremely symbolic that we have flights by Qatar airways, it has definitely been mediated by the Ministry of Tourism, and since this is a serious airline, we have been addressing Arab countries for years, “, said mayor of Mykonos, Konstantinos Koukas, now in his second term in City Hall.

“This year, we do not walk down unknown paths, we also learned from our mistakes, the season finds us more experienced as a public administration since it is not only a local government project, after all”, he added. The mayor emphasized the works of the island, the international airport (“the most beautiful, fantastic, the one that Mykonos deserves in and that meets the new expectations”, he said), the construction of the new port but also the electrical interconnection of Mykonos, from in the summer of 2018, through an underwater powerline, a project of 70 million that “turned the page for Mykonos”, as Mr. Koukas noted. Plus, an island that is transformed from summer to summer is also the evolution of the upgrade of biological waste treatment (6.5 million euros), the two additional desalination plants and within the next 6 months, the “green” street lighting of the island.

“The island copes through”

Can Mykonos cope? This is the central and pressing question for Mykonos that has nothing to do with that of the ’80s,’ 90s or 2000s. The laying and opening of regional roads, the infrastructure, the attraction of international entrepreneurship, the new travelers that are flooding the island from new markets (after 2009 the Arab public is here en masse) have drastically changed the terms while in this area there is a criticism for the preservation of its identity or for the risk of soon becoming a constant floating city only for strong wallets and with usher – kings to this good life being the “concierges” and hosts in the countless rooms and houses that are now available en masse on Airbnb.

“The island is coping, we are on constant alert, of course, since the private economy is running faster than the public one. There is a marathon to catch private investment. We have the support of the state. At the moment, there are five strategic investments that we are trying to implement (over 50 million) and many smaller ones as well”, says the Mayor of Mykonos to ot.gr.

On an island of 10,134 registered permanent residents, the share of locals increases every season due to seasonal workers. There is an attempt to overcome the impediment of the virus by launching vaccination, with mass tests in the port of the island (it was and is an initiative of the Municipality with the collaboration of the Ministry of Health) and observance of the protocols, since the summer 2020 experience was not the best due to successive lockdowns. The battle is fought again this year with new weapons and more experience. Dina Sampsouni is the President of the Board of the Mykonos Health Center and is recognized as extremely active and successful in the battle for public health, by all parties concerned.

“There is no relation with last year. Of course experience has been gained, we have organization. The issue is to proceed with vaccinations. Now it is going much better. We have 80 a day. I will ask for the opening of a new vaccination line, as well as the support of 2 general practitioners”, says Ms. Sampsouni to ot.gr. We insist on asking about the condition of the Mykonos Health Center, since it is a question for both foreign visitors and foreign embassies that traditionally maintain an interest in islands such as Mykonos. The Health Center currently has 19 doctors. It is adequately covered for on-call time. Patients are also airlifted if required. The procedure is: Ambulance, “capsule”, consultation with a doctor and evaluation of the incident and depending on the urgency, transfer to Syros or Athens. The evaluation for History is done by the Coordinator of the ambulance service. Experience exists although a major question is always how the Health Center will be developed further. With 6 short term hospital beds, 2 short term beds in another area, with the covid-19 cases also being treated outside the Heaqlth Center, at this time 6 thousand rapid tests are requested and from next week there will be a CAT scanner for the first time on the island, through a donation from a Mykonian individual.

“It simply came to our notice then. At one time the Health Center sent cases to private doctors, now private doctors send cases to the Health Center”, says Dina Sampsouni who, however, notes that she is in good cooperation with the private doctors of the island since last year and everyone has a “mobilization” culture if required. Much of a successful season will to go through health and safety, say islanders. A few days ago, the Ministry of Civil Protection informed that the police sub-directorate of the island will be reinforced by 50 police officers. On an island that also has a new facet through private security and escort companies, often as a package of benefits for high end visitors. “Mykonos as a tourist destination is an example to follow. This is because the brand “Mykonos” is timeless and maintains a loyal and returning clientele with specific characteristics. At the same time, it is constantly updating what it offers and this helps to connect the destination with new common high-profile goals.

“As a hotelier (and in fact the oldest on Mykonos -1924) and former president of the Hoteliers Association of the island I can express the opinion that Mykonos is ready to receive visitors safely. We have taken all the necessary precautions to ensure the protection of public health at the destination level, ie the safety of the health of residents, employees, businesses, and, of course, visitors. We have the know-how and the organizational models at the destination level. It is a difficult exercise that presupposes respect for health rules, readiness, precise organization and synergies both at the destination level, at the national level, but also in our relations with the international tourist market,” notes a person with a long family tradition in hotels, former president of Mykonos Hoteliers and now Head of Tourism for New Democracy Andreas Fiorentinos to ot.gr. And he, of course, noted the challenges of the new era for the island – and not just.  “We have to take into account the effects of climate change, hyper-tourism and some of the constraints of the concept of sustainability. In short, we need to work together and think in a coordinated way to maintain our high profile as a destination, to strengthen the Mykonos brand and of course to maintain all the natural and other resources that make us special,”, he added.

A difficult equation

With 190 hotels (15,000 beds) and villas for rent, rooms that are joined and become boarding houses or small overnight units, with the boom of the Airbnb trend, the balance of landscape, sustainability, identity, development is an admittedly difficult equation. Especially if one considers that at the top of the tourist season, Mykonos reaches 120 thousand overnight stays with hundreds of boats mooring and dozens of aircraft landing. The concept of sustainable development is back on the table now that the island has grown and the needs of locals and non-locals have widened with the risk of losing all its identity. One of the persons playing the role of Tourism Diplomacy is Costas Skagias (Ambassador HACC New York, Mykonos based- Strategy Manager & Implementation Tourism Exhibitions: Projects) with experience in Tourism markets and exhibitions.

“In the last nine years that we have been implementing the promotion program of reliable Mykonos tourism companies, we have a dynamic presence in 29 outbound tourism markets with high travel spending. We carry out successful promotion activities of our members in the USA, Russia, Israel, Arab countries and Latin America. Before the pandemic, we participated with physical presence in international exhibitions in these countries and held meetings and targeted events. In the midst of a pandemic, in 2020, we hosted major tour operators from Arab countries who showed interest in cooperating. Our advantage all this time is that we continue to maintain relationships with Tour Operators and important buyers, making the most of the possibilities offered by new communication technologies as well as with potential travelers, providing them with information via messenger, whatsapp, and instagram.

Everything open in early June

The advantage, not only of Mykonos but also of the whole of Greece is the positive experience of the tourists who visited the country last year, in terms of security issues and this fact is a legacy that we will reap this year. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, the hosting companies have taken the issue seriously, they have shown and continue to show a high degree of responsibility towards their customers and that is why we receive a positive response from the people,” Costas Skagias describes to ot.gr. When asked if the island is ready, Mr. Skagias is clear: “Having already last year’s experience with the implementation and observance of health protocols and strict control by the government, the tourist entrepreneurs of Mykonos have the knowledge and experience to welcome visitors to the island safely. At the moment, 1/10 of the restaurants are open, while at the beginning of June, everything is expected to be open. The hotels are also ready to welcome tourists and they are also opening gradually depending on the reservations they accept. At the same time, the vaccination of the inhabitants of the island is progressing at a satisfactory pace and soon we believe that the opening of this season will be safe for both visitors and locals “.

Big name arrivals

Let us now proceed to the deep market of Mykonos. “There is a demand for real estate, due to the arrival of big brands in hotels and restaurants. It is the time when the island will refresh itself,” comments the businessman Florios Asimomytis who has a deep knowledge of the market and business processes. “If in recent years the good customer had started to vanish, for reasons of price or security, now it seems that there is a rebranding of the island with the opening of big brand-names such as Zuma, Bagatelle, Lio. Real estate has a new perspective on the so-called fillets, while a new demand seems to be around a location where there are large groups or companies,” adds Mr. Asimomytis. He also sees a “return of the Capital” since a few years ago and due to the residential development outside the island’s capital, it was left behind. He does not describe the development of real estate as a “bubble” except for those who turn 200 square meters into 1000, since they “will carry this arbitrariness for a lifetime”. This, he adds, will be accelerated by the so-called identification of buildings while predicting a large shift of wealth from indigenous to foreign capital in the near future.

Nikos Daktilidis is a businessman from Mykonos, among others of the emblematic mega club “Cavo Paradiso” in the area of ​​Paradise (Kalamopodi) while his entire group has 250 employees. In fact, in the 2020 season, painful in all respects and unprecedented for the place, it did something innovative: 19 parties with famous DJs and protection measures against the pandemic that attracted the interest of foreign media. “The operating framework needs to be clarified quickly because, for example, at such a time we have always had our star DJs from all over the world booked, in the 28 years of operation”, says Mr. Daktilidis to ot.gr. He predicts a better season than in 2020 while also positively assessing the rate of return. Turning to other types of tourism, it already has a large investment in the conference sector, while maintaining channels with international clubbing and all the new trends in the music industry. The night in Mykonos has nothing to do with that of the ‘90s, while in recent years there has been the phenomenon of parties in villas, with a regular shop structure that is often targeted by the tax authorities and is sanctioned.

President of SEDEM (Association of Food Service and Entertainment Enterprises of Mykonos), with 120 members, Giannis Theocharis is an experienced hotelier and businessman based in Platys Gialos. “Reservations are like a cardiogram. Interconnected with health status here and internationally. June is the wager. We definitely expect a better season than 2020 and double the turnover. We also have experience with the pandemic and we consider the green certificate positive. Very good messages are coming from the USA this year while the big bet is the timely wall of immunity. Tourism is basically Psychology and the holidays are a primary global need ,” notes Mr. Theocharis. He considers that the island needs infrastructure, at least five biological waste treatment plants and a new dam for water next to the two existing ones (Marathi, Fokos).

We are already counting down to the restart of Tourism. Much of the country’s GDP, unilaterally, goes through here, as does part of social cohesion. The summer of 2021 will not be the one that can be designed and widely and centrally discussed as a new model of tourism sustainable, environmentally friendly, modern, and not anarchic and unconditional. Probably 2021 will be a season when Tourism entrepreneurs will try to recover from the shock of the pandemic.