Financial crisis leads to a 30% drop in tourism

Financial crisis leads to a 30% drop in tourism

Greece’s debt crisis has hit tourism, with last-minute bookings falling sharply, although the impact on the industry may be limited because the flare-up has come late in the season when most summer holidays are already booked.

The Greek Tourism Confederation said it has seen a 30 percent drop in last-minute bookings, which typically account for one-fifth of bookings to the country.

But on the island of Santorini, one of Greece’s most iconic tourist destinations, local businesses said the crisis had not yet dealt a major blow to tourism.

“A lot of people come to visit Santorini, and it doesn’t affect all this situation Santorini island so much, it’s about 10 percent lower than was expected to be,” Lina, an employee of a local shop told Reuters.

Tourists were still pouring into the famous village of Oia to enjoy its famous sunsets.

With banks closed and cash withdrawals rationed, many said they had brought enough money to last the length of their holiday.

“We brought more than enough cash I think to spend. So we are prepared to pay cash for everything, and that our credit card cannot be used, but so far we found that there is no problem for us to use our credit card,” said Siaki Tan, a tourist from Hong Kong.

Yet some businesses on the island are beginning to feel the effects of the crisis.

Although tourists have been able to use credit cards, many business have been facing demands by suppliers to pay cash for goods.

“We are working with suppliers here, but our suppliers are working with suppliers in Athens, for example. The big ones, they need cash, and they say if you don’t give me cash, I won’t give you the products. So eventually, we won’t have any products. I don’t know how long, that will take,” Penelope Theodosopoulo, who runs a family restaurant, explained.

Despite their fears, business owners wanted to deliver a message of confidence for potential visitors.

“People around me are afraid of the cancellations in the bookings and stuff. But Greece, it was a safe place to have your vacations, and it will be a safe place, even if the people are having difficulties here,” souvenir shop employee Myesini said.

And for some business owners even the threat of Greece succumbing to a state bankruptcy that would probably force it to leave the euro and print an alternative currency was not enough to dampen their confidence.

“On a short-term there will be problems, but in tourism on long term I think there won’t be any problems because people won’t stop travelling and especially if we get a lower currency, it will have actually tourists travel to Greece even more because their currency will be stronger than ours, they will be able to make more travels to Greece,” said William Mandeilaras, the manager of a local restaurant.

Travel website Opodo.de said Greece flight bookings from Germany, which had been tracking the levels of the previous year, suddenly dropped off after June 26, when talks broke down between Greece and its euro zone creditors.

Between June 27 and July 6, daily flight bookings have been down most days by around 30-35 percent from the previous year, with one day showing a decrease of 68 percent, it said in data made available to Reuters.

Other German travel sites Kayak.de and Swoodoo.de, part of the Priceline Group, said in the week before Sunday’s referendum on whether to accept the terms of a bailout, searches for flights to Greece were down 8 percent compared with the previous year.

The reduction in bookings seems particularly to affect the Germans. Skyscanner said earlier this week that interest from Britain and Spain had actually increased. Some European tourists were switching holiday plans to Greece from Tunisia following an attack on tourists there.

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