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Travel agencies are the first to feel the change in market

16 December 2010 / 10:12:15  GRReporter
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We talked with Nikos while in the neighboring streets the police were chasing "demonstrators" with covered faces and there was the heavy smell of tear gas everywhere. His agency is located very close to Syntagma Square where most of the protest are held so he has often witnessed extreme actions by far right youth groups. He believes that demonstrations and protests with all their consequences are very damaging to the image that people abroad have for Greece. According to him, "such forms of protest seem strange to the tourists from Germany, France, England where most of our visitors come from. Tourists from Canada and Austria told me the same. In their opinion this is more like anarchism."

There are ten people working in the agency. He confessed that he had not fired anyone and do not intend to do this despite the difficulties. "The oldest in service employee has been working with us for 25 years and the youngest – for eight. We do not change the staff often and we do not intend to do this now."

According to Nikos, who is a board member of the Hellenic Association of Travel Agencies and Tourism (HATTA), the Greek tourist market should be opened for tourists from Latin America, Australia and Canada. The association makes strenuous efforts to present Greece to those markets, but also worldwide. "It is important to attract visitors who are interested in various forms of tourism: religious, cultural, mountaineering, river by developing them more intensively. Let us not, however, forget that tourism produces nearly 19% of GDP," he said.

Tags: Tourist agenciesEconomic crisisChristmas and New Year packagesRiotsPrices
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