“I love Greece! I’m very excited!”, confides a young American tourist delighted to visit Athens. In a few hours, she will set sail for the Greek islands. Not Irene. A Greek civil servant in her forties, she also loved going with her family to the small island of Tilos, in the Dodecanese, or in the Cyclades. From now on it is impossible: much too expensive.
“This summer, the prices to go to an island are unaffordablerebels Irene. We were supposed to go to Tilos but the boat ticket, without a cabin, for one person with a car costs 350-400 euros, or even more during the high season, in August. We’ve never seen that!” The craziest thing is that now it is much cheaper for Greeks to go abroad, for example to Italy, than to the islands. “You can find plane tickets for 20-30 euros for countries in Europe if you book in advance, or for 100 euros”, pursues Irene.
“It’s a third of what we’ll pay here this summer to go to any small island.”
Irene, a 40-year-old Greekat franceinfo
As a result, campsites on the mainland have been taken by storm this summer, especially by young people who, before, camped on the islands. “We decided to camp on a beach near a tavern but until the last day, we regretted not being on an island. There were several of us in this situation. There were many young people who were camping, like us, for the first time on the continent”adds Irène disillusioned.
Aware that fewer and fewer Greeks can go to the islands, the Minister of Tourism, Vasilis Kikilias has announced social tourism measures. “Last year we had a budget of 20 million for social tourism. This year, we had ten more, or 30 million for holiday vouchers which are given, very easily, without bureaucracy. It is valid in taverns, in transport, hotels. All Greeks without resources will go on vacation, there will be no problems”assures the minister.
Yiannis, a 27-year-old employee, actually took advantage of it. He left for the island of Euboea with government vacation vouchers. “I was able to leave this summer for seven days with these vouchers, on the island of Euboea. We were in the north and the south of the island. We lived in Halkida. But still, I try to leave not too far to limit costs. With the ferry, all the islands are expensive.”
According to the latest statistics, for every 24 foreign tourists to Crete, one Greek was able to make the trip. If tourism accounts for 25% of Greece’s GDP and is even the country’s only industry, the Greeks themselves, more and more, only have access to the islands to work there.