It is an honor that ultimately celebrates all Greeks: a major German travel magazine has named Greece the most hospitable country in the world. The recognition fits neatly into a broader trend – a steady rise in German sympathies for Greece. Only recently, a nationwide poll found that two-thirds of Germans hold a good or very good opinion of the country.
The driving force behind this modern wave of philhellenism is mass tourism. More than five million Germans visited Greece last year, and according to surveys, the overwhelming majority returned home with positive or very positive impressions. While the sea, the sun, the climate, and the cuisine all play their part, it is also the legendary Greek hospitality that shapes these favorable views. In today’s tourism industry, it has become nothing less than a strategic asset.
Most travelers know this from personal experience: in an age of online reviews for hotels and restaurants, it’s not just price and quality that matter. What counts just as much is the feeling of being welcomed, of being treated with care and respect – in short, the human dimension of service. Hospitality is simply another word for that.
Tourism psychology has long shown that hospitality goes far beyond a polite smile at the check-in desk or a kind word at a souvenir shop. When experts define it, they speak of authenticity, helpfulness, respect, openness, and emotional warmth. In the glossy brochures of the Greek tourism industry, the word filoxenia – literally, “love of the stranger” – now plays a central role, often presented as a quintessential Greek trait and as a bridge between tradition and modernity.
“In Greek we say philoxenia – the love and friendship toward the stranger,” explains Nicole Lekanidi, head of the Frankfurt branch of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), following Greece’s recognition as the world’s most hospitable country. “We’re talking about true love. Greece is more than beaches, sea, and sunshine – it’s about the people. They show genuine affection, warmth, and joy in life,” she says.
These are moving and ambitious words, suggesting a nearly boundless generosity – an ideal that inevitably borders on wishful thinking. Authenticity, helpfulness, and emotional warmth – the pillars of hospitality – have their limits when tourism becomes a mass phenomenon, the so-called “heavy industry” of the Greek economy. Travelers increasingly report avoiding certain islands or regions because they encounter mostly other foreigners there – and hardly any Greeks.
Greek hospitality remains a legendary virtue, a competitive advantage sustained daily by countless people. Yet it is as threatened by mass tourism as unspoiled landscapes and quiet beaches. The greatest danger lies in routine – the numbing repetition that comes with industrialized tourism. When friendliness turns into a choreographed duty, it loses its soul – and with it, its allure.
The good news, for now, is that Greece has not yet reached that point, as the latest surveys suggest.
Balos, Crete. June 2, 2015. / Μπάλος, Κρήτη. 2 Ιουνίου 2015.
Dr. Ronald Meinardus is Senior Research Fellow and Coordinator of Research Projects on Greek-German Relations at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP).
