Strikes bring storm clouds to Greece

FT ^ | 2 Aug 10 | Kerin Hope

[SkyPilot]

Greece’s olive-clad hillsides and turquoise sea gleam as enticingly as ever under the hot August sun.

But the country’s image as a relaxed Mediterranean destination has been taking a beating.

Thousands of tourists were stuck beside the hotel pool last week because of a truckers’ strike that shut down petrol stations across the country.

The strikes also triggered a wave of last-minute cancellations by Greeks in advance of the August break – the busiest period of the tourist season.

“The strike’s been suspended – but the cancellations still stand. It’s turning out to be a very difficult season,” said Yannis Economou, a hotelier on the island of Crete.

Repeated strikes, including action by merchant marine engineers that spread to tourist ferries in June, anti-austerity riots and a negative press in Germany – the main feeder market for Greek tourism, along with the UK – have dealt a blow to the ­country’s biggest industry at a time when its contribution to the economy is more important than ever.

Greece normally attracts about 14m tourists annually, with one-third coming from Germany and the UK. But this year visitor numbers are projected to fall by about 3.5 per cent and revenues by 10 per cent, according to tour operators and hoteliers.

As Greece’s fiscal crisis deepened, Germany’s tabloid press pilloried Greeks as lazy ouzo-drinkers seeking financial aid from hard-working north European partners in order to stave off bankruptcy.

[SkyPilot]

LOL - you win.

[dennisw]

The question we were looking for was “What are Greeks dancing.” >>>>>>

One Greek dance is the hora. Another one is the hokey-pokey

[eleni121]

The most conservative are yes..the heroic Cretans...but even more so are the Southern Peloponesians...the Maniates (Mani) and among them the descendants of the Spartans...I found some real conservative types too up north...the tea (ouzo) party types of Greece.

OK - they are all over the place.

[eleni121]

Kazantzakis a Communist? You must kidding...is that what your commie professors taught you? He may have flirted with Marxism —lots of intellectuals did esp. after studying in Paris—but he was a free thinker...certainly not a communist - he had lots of terrible things to say about Stalin eg. If anything he was a secular rationalist with a streak of fiery emotional independence. Perfectly depicted in Zorba

His epitaph says:
“I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.”