Irony wants it that shipping and tourism are the primary sources of income for the Greek economy.
And yet it’s the ships that go on strike, and the ship owners who don’t pay their taxes. The country is a large vessel drifting to the bottom of the sea, and the population is drowning in poverty. Beyond this tragedy, the media pour more weight on the boat to make it sink faster. If the economical situation is a disaster, it is up to us, potential tourists, not to boycott our greek holiday destinations. More than ever, we must travel to Greece and overcome our fright of riots and strikes in Athens. It is most unlikely that taking the bus or the taxi from the airport to the port of Pireas will encounter any trouble. The Greek hotel business remains welcoming to foreigners and the sun will still shine over their beautiful beaches.
Save Greece, travel to Greece.
Easter falls late this year, providing the security of nice weather. Greek Easter festivities are an excellent reason to participate with the processions and enjoy spring on the islands. Amorgos is particularly colourful at that period of the year. It offers hiking opportunities and all the taverns and hotels await your visit.
Let’s go « Greek » this year!
Wendula v. Alvensleben, Amorgos
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Very well said Wendula. I was going to try and compete with your clever use of the English language but decided you can win that one.
Just to reiterate on what is said about Easter (Paska), it is a fantastic time to be here. I am not pushing our web site but we have a fairly good write up about it at: http://www.walkingingreece.com/easter.php Also look in You Tube under Amorgos Easter and Paska there are a few film clips. It is also a very good time for the spring flowers. Please note that Easter and Paska are on the same date this year: 24th April. If you are travelling to the islands then be sure to book your ship tickets well in advance. They get very busy.
Regarding strikes; yes an absolute pain, but as Wendula says don’t let them stop you. A good site to look at to check for strikes is: http://livingingreece.gr/strikes/
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Fortunately, since most Greek strikers want the maximum amount of attention, strikes will usually be announced a few days in advance. The on-line version of Kathimerini will often list on Monday the planned strikes for the rest of the week. Usually at least some of them will be cancelled before they actually occur.
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Wendula, I enjoy the way you express your ideas, and I agree with lots of what you said. BUT – though some would have it that Greece is “sinking,” I don’t agree. After decades of fiscal malfeasance, this government actually is trying run a tighter ship and is making headway (keeping to the nautical metaphor). As to Greeks drowning in poverty – not most of them! Times are very tough right now, but things are nowhere near as bad as they’ve been in the past. And for tourists, a taxi strike or ferry stoppage can briefly impact an otherwise perfect vacation, but that can happen today in many European cities. On the plus side, the Athens airport is world class, the food is great, and Athens is a real place, with people living and loving right in the center, not just in distant suburbs. But then, don’t waste time in Athens, come quickly to Amorgos, where the only street demonstrations are called fiestas and the waiters never go on strike.
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Brad, your appropriate remark about the gouvernment running tighter ship, absolutely confirms my point of view. Though I’m no politician, I’m under the impression that the gouvernment is indead doing a good job and that’s why we can help by promoting the qualities of such a beautiful country and… original people.
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Sorry Bradley but please see: http://www.naxos-news.gr/?aid=2287 We had to go to Katapola that day and we were asked to stay to support the ‘demo’. What self respecting Englishman is going to hang around a port when all the bars have been closed as part of the protest?
Incidentally, we agree in principle about this well organised and of course peaceful demonstration. As can be seen in the article it was a last straw effort. However, given the title of this article by Wendula, is interfering with the shipping schedule the right way forward? With the reduction in government subsidies to the shipping companies our service is already under threat. Any meddling would give them every excuse to reduce services.
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Paul, thanks for bringing the Naxos News article to my attention. As I get it, the peaceful gathering and strike, plus a symbolic 10-minute closure of the harbor, were to call government attention to the need for staffing of the island’s Health Center. It appears there was a positive response and things have gotten better; is that right? We here too are concerned lest ferry service be reduced, but so far the schedule (projected for several months) shows a good level of connection.
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Strikes in one country will obviously affect other countries economy: Protests in Egypt Boost Greece Tourism.
One of the “highlights” of the recently presented SETE (Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises) study “Greek Tourism 2020: Proposal for a new development model.” points out: The establishment of communication mechanisms for crisis management should also be included in our strategic priorities!
You can see, things are in progress and will hopefully be deployed earlier than 2020 😉Or – just do it
Apart from the possibility of bad experiences because of the economic crisis and the impact of the situation – e.g. from strikes – it is likely that your customers are already negatively predisposed towards your services and your country. This leads to distrust and an overreaction to a negative experience that might otherwise not have been deemed so important. To work around this negativity it is important to analyze the fears and insecurities of potential customers and see if you can offer value added services – for example a pickup service from the (air)port in case of public transport strike or to assist your customers during their travel with tips. The services offered depend on your business but the key is to have a consistent strategy from the beginning and scenarios which will help you and members of staff to react in a variety of incidents. -
Some public demonstrations are okay and some aren’t. Been in the middle of major actions in Athens in the past, by choice, but no way would I choose to be in Cairo right now – fine line between responsible group action and mob mentality. What took place in Katapola increases my respect for the Amorgianoi. And the arrival of the doctors was no coincidence; other on-line articles from late 2010 show that the local folks had already made known their displeasure and had gotten attention at the ministerial level. Actually, the government was a little late (never happened before, of course). The docs did not arrive in time to keep the preplanned media event from happening. Chalk up one for the local team! We’re already telling friends who were planning to visit Egypt to try ecotourism on Amorgos instead and are directing them to this magazine.
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Thank you Bradley! It is the magazine’s intention to mobilize motivation and communication, to strenghten suppliers especially during economic crisis. For us it seems to be very important to enable a knowledge cooperation between suppliers and guests. so it is a small solidaric contribution of european community solidarity – together we should carry on.
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