by Alexander G. Colombos, CRC, MA, MPS, MAEd
Economic crisis has destroyed the only heavy insdustry of Greece: tourism. Internal tourism (Greeks from Athens and other big cities going on vacation to other Greek towns and villages) has totally disappeared and most Greeks who live in Athens or other cities just stay go to their own villages or stay with friends or relatives in the countryside instead of staying at hotels, not to mention five star hotels, which may have daily expenses of even 30-40,000 euros and which face tremendous problems in getting supplies due to capital controls. The only hope is foreign tourists, who however, display not the best behavior expected...
Starting first with the minor incidents and misbehaviors, British tourists, especially the young ones, continue doing what they have always been infamous of doing all these years every Summer in Greece even before the economic crisis. They do all those things they are not allowed to do in their country. They often engage in indescent exposure and cause scandals and incidents, such as the recent ones in Corfu (Kerkyra) and Crete. They get drunk, get naked, harass passerbys, take pictures of themselves naked, and quite often they engage in orgies even in front of the locals, among of them are children!
Very few foreign tourists buy expensive items or stay at luxury hotels. Most of them are very stingy and spend only 1-2 euros for suvenirs. Bargains have become so tough that many Greek merchants feel insulted. According to ANT1 Satelite, incidents of French, German, and Belgian tourists happened recently when they refused to pay for tickets to archaeological sites, at souvenir stores, and at restaurants. They were insulting and cursing the Greeks and looked down on them like they owned everything around them based on the claim that they have been paying Greece out of their pocket through Eurozone subsidies for a long time and it's now the time to take their money back!
The worst of all tourists in Greece, have been the Germans who reportedly treat Greek merchants and locals in the worst way ever by being insulting, rude, and fresh with them and ridiculously cheap and acting like they are in a German protectorate! Not all of German tourists are bad, though. However, those who are good, are afraid to speak German because of the situation. Same thing happens with a few tourists from other countries of the Eurozone that their leaders have not treated Greece well and they feel stigmatized. It's interesting, though, that many German tourists and tourists of other European countries whose leaders have not treated Greece well have reported that they do not feel stigmatized at all, as Greeks treat them with respect and do not identify politics with nations and innocent people who just happened to come from those countries. Even in this crisis and after all this systematic slander against Greece, the average Greeks still show filoxenia (hospitality) and filotimo, a unique concept keen only to the Greeks that means pride, dignity and love for honor and recognition.
However, there is no real excuse for tourists's inappropriate behaviors, as foreign tourists have not been financially affected by capital controls, as their bank accounts are not Greek. In Mykonos and other exotic islands of Greece, tourists admit that the economic crisis is totally strange to them and that they enjoy and have fun like nothing has ever happened.
The worst of all tourists in Greece, have been the Germans who reportedly treat Greek merchants and locals in the worst way ever by being insulting, rude, and fresh with them and ridiculously cheap and acting like they are in a German protectorate! Not all of German tourists are bad, though. However, those who are good, are afraid to speak German because of the situation. Same thing happens with a few tourists from other countries of the Eurozone that their leaders have not treated Greece well and they feel stigmatized. It's interesting, though, that many German tourists and tourists of other European countries whose leaders have not treated Greece well have reported that they do not feel stigmatized at all, as Greeks treat them with respect and do not identify politics with nations and innocent people who just happened to come from those countries. Even in this crisis and after all this systematic slander against Greece, the average Greeks still show filoxenia (hospitality) and filotimo, a unique concept keen only to the Greeks that means pride, dignity and love for honor and recognition.
However, there is no real excuse for tourists's inappropriate behaviors, as foreign tourists have not been financially affected by capital controls, as their bank accounts are not Greek. In Mykonos and other exotic islands of Greece, tourists admit that the economic crisis is totally strange to them and that they enjoy and have fun like nothing has ever happened.
ANT1 news stated that the best tourists are American and they even tip the Greek merchants. They spend money, they are generous, they respect Greek culture and they sympathize with the Greeks. However, Greeks are not used to tips as it is not a custom in Greece to leave tips. So they misunderstand tips believing that the tourists pity them and that they may consider them poor and miserable, so they give them the tips back! Finally, please take note: we don't say that because we live in USA and we are Greek-Americans, but because this is the official news coming directly from Greece by Greek reporters with no ties at all with the US or any financial interests and their reports are what people, a large pool of both Greeks and non-Greek tourists from different areas of Greece in the major cities and the countryside have said on camera.
Source: www.antennasatellite.gr
