Som Peter (vi er iallfall enige om noe
), hadde heller ikke jeg tenkt å skrive mer. Det skal jeg for så vidt ikke heller gjøre, men sender en artikkel som sto i Athens News fredag. Vil tro at grekere vet bedre enn skandinaver hva som kan bli et problem for landet deres eller ei:
Anything but all-inclusive
The prepaid holiday market that is booming on Corfu threatens the future oflocal communities
THRASY PETROPOULOS
Enjoying the Ionian sea on a Corfu beach. Demand for all-inclusive holidays is on the rise on the island
THEY ARE easily identifiable by their brightly coloured wristbands. Yet spotting the most common breed of holidaymaker on some Greek islands this summer may be harder than you think.
The all-inclusive tourist, who prepays for every part of his vacation - flights, room, food, drink and entertainment - and arrives in Greece with no more than loose change in his pocket, is a reality of modern travel. Visitors need no longer leave the air-conditioned confines of their hotel lobby.
Some islands are more affected by this phenomenon than others, of course. Crete, Kos and Rhodes are well-accustomed to the concept. But nowhere has the all-inclusive package split opinion more than on Corfu.
As Michael Sarafis, front-office manager of the Gelina Village Hotel and Resort in Acharavi, a once sleepy northern village on the island, says: "Such is the demand that over the next two to three years all major hotels in Greece will become all-inclusive. It is a clear market trend."
Whether such trends will affect other less-travelled destinations is, of course, an open question. However, the experience of the islanders on Corfu is enough for the Greek authorities and public to ask themselves one simple question: is this the tourism the country wants?
Consider the words of Sue Tsirigoti, a travel agent in Acharavi: "If you visit the airport on Mondays and Fridays, when most tourists fly in, you would think the island would be overrun by tourists. One day later, you will be wondering where they all went."
Those shouting loudest are, of course, the high-street retailers and taverns, whose sole income comes from passing trade. "I can think of ten businesses that have closed this year, mostly restaurants and tourist shops," Tsirigoti says. "Most travellers don't seem to get out from the four walls of their hotel. And when they do they stick out like a sore thumb because they wear wristbands showing they are allowed free food and drink at their hotel.
"How is the island going to survive? The knock-on effect will be a downward spiral of recession because next year others will rely on the income of those whose businesses have suffered. There are dozens of empty villas across the island. Our passing trade is down 40 percent.
"I can fully understand why all-inclusive deals are attractive to families. And who am I to stand in the way of little Jimmy gorging himself on icecreams until he is sick. But do we want to become a country where people only come for three reasons: sun, sea and cheap booze - lots of it?" Tsirigoti asks.
"And there is a more important question. What is going to happen to the huge, cheap 'flat-pack' hotels that are springing up over the island to cater for this demand when the trend changes?"
For now, demand for these holidays is on the rise. Three of the four Louis hotels on the island operate exclusively on an all-inclusive concept for all tourists arriving from abroad.
It does not follow, however, that this is the preferred choice for most hoteliers. "Is it successful?" Sarafis, of the Gelina Village Hotel and Resort, says. "This depends on which way you look at it. In terms of occupancy, yes. In terms of money, no. But it is what the market dictates. This is our second year of being 100 percent all-inclusive and we now work on an allocation system with a few big operators. It is squeezing all the smaller players in the market, both operators and hotels."
Industry leaders, like George Doukas, president of the Panhellenic Federation of Tourist Enterprises and owner of a travel agency on Corfu, question what can be done to draw more people out of their hotels. "Something like 70 percent of hotels here offer all-inclusive and it is a problem for other Greek destinations," Doukas says. "We have to ask ourselves why. We had always assumed that the beauty of the Greek tavern would lure people. Are the prices too high? Probably. We have to educate taverns and bars to charge fair prices."
Others lay the blame squarely on the authorities, who claim to be striving for a higher level of tourism. "We need regulation and protection," says Tsirigoti. "No consideration is being given for environmental damage and sewage disposal with these cheap and nasty hotels being built specifically for all-inclusives. Do they want villages to become ghost towns? They are sucking the lifeblood out of communities."
Länk till artikeln:
http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nath...=01&m=A09&aa=1