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Victoria Mindova

30% less revenue compared with 2008 registered the hotels in Athens after the city became the stage of almost daily strikes, protests and street riots. After the recent events on 28 and 29 June this year during the 48-hour strike of the trade unions, Athens suffered damage in the amount of around 800,000 euros. For the hoteliers in Athens not only the physical destruction reflects the damages, but also the cancellation of eight thousand reservations, the scared tourists and the bad image of the country. These are the data only for 20 hotels in the city centre, and the final results will become clear later this week.

"The picture the foreign media present is really terrifying, but it does not reflect the true face of Greece," said the President of the Hellenic Hotel Federation Yannis Retsos. He called an emergency press conference to present the position of the industry concerning the devastation and consequences for tourism. All events such as the last urban wars are taking place on about two square kilometers of the city centre but the world is left with the impression that this is the situation throughout the city, they said from the Association.

Greece is a completely safe destination, but people can not be convinced until such phenomena still exist, explained hoteliers. "Just imagine the damage the clashes during protests caused to tourism. It is like to visit Egypt, when Cairo was in flames. Damage could be irreparable," said Tim Ananiadis who is the executive director of one of the most famous hotels in the capital, located near Syntagma Square to the parliament. This region is the main "battleground", where the clashes between anarchists, between hooligans and police that sprayed tons of chemicals and tear gas only for two days unfolded.

Ananiadis said he is not against trade union protests, strikes and rallies and stressed that they are a form of democratic protection of the rights of workers, but the heavy clashes and the extreme forms of violence that are demonstrated recently go beyond those limits. He stressed that even the movement of the discontented which has been on Syntagma in the past month and a half is not a problem for the tourists or the hoteliers themselves. "Many of our guests are Frenchmen, Spaniards and Portuguese and they are familiar with this form of protest. So, there is no reason to fear," he explained. This is a peaceful expression of indignation from the political measures and the change in lifestyle, which shows culture and consciousness and they can not be compared with the excesses of a group of people, said hoteliers.

The problem is the overall image of the country, which is determined by events with tear gas and destruction. The biggest damage is related to cancellation of bookings for next year and not from individual tourists, but from large customers such as travel agencies and international organizations that organize specialized forums and workshops with international participation. "When they contact us to reserve a date for a symposium which will take place after 2-3 years, because this is the practice, they always ask us the same question - is Athens safe. And the answer is yes," said Tim Ananiadis based on his experience with foreign partners.

Despite all the hoteliers’ convictions in the safety in the capital, Retsos said the events of last week resembled the arson from December 2008 that was provoked by the murder of the 16-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos. Then, anarchists and hooligans rose against the police and the government and the clashes between the two groups continued for almost three weeks, and the consequences for all living in downtown Athens were devastating. "By a miracle, there were no victims this time," ​​said Retsos, which definitely did not take the heat out of the situation.
 
We asked the President of the association what steps he intends to take to enable the government to take preventive measures against new scenes of beating between police and anarchist groups. "We are not politicians and we can not offer political solutions. Our job is to warn the public and the government for the consequences of such actions but we are not able to solve anything alone," he said. Retsos added that the hoteliers in the centre of Athens are exhausted and would not stand long and if the government does not soon take a final decision on how to deal with the phenomenon of violence and crime, the consequences for tourism could be dramatic.