Applying Ten Governance and Accounting Principles to Fraud Risk in Tourism: Selected International Evidence and the Greek Case

Abstract

Tourism ranks among the world’s most economically significant sectors, yet fraud, tax evasion and undeclared work are, in many service-dominated and SME-heavy tourism economies, recurring structural features rather than isolated anomalies. Governance and fraud research, however, has developed largely around large, listed firms, and no prior work maps a consolidated set of governance, accounting and fraud principles onto tourism. This essay addresses that gap by applying the ten governance, accounting and fraud principles of Hermanson et al. to tourism at two levels—global tourism and the Greek case. Methodologically, it is a conceptual, contextual analysis drawing on secondary evidence rather than primary data. The selected evidence indicates that the ten principles are analytically relevant at both levels, and the Greek case shows them interacting most intensely where enforcement, financial pressure and pay informality coincide: a same-scope VAT gap of roughly EUR 1.8–2.4 billion in accommodation and catering (with a wider EUR 3.2 billion receipts-versus-declarations gap reported only as an indicative cross-check), roughly 28% undeclared employment in accommodation and catering, and voluntary disclosure uptake below 2%. The findings are directly relevant to forensic accountants, auditors, tourism regulators and policymakers, and connect governance failure to SDG 8 (decent work) and SDG 16 (strong institutions and curbing illicit financial flows).