The overwhelming majority of Greeks will not go on summer vacation this year because of economic reasons, I read today on a survey conducted nationwide by the Consumers’ Institute INKA. And how could they? According to INKA, a family of four needs to spend at least €2,700 for a two week vacation in a tourist destination.
A friend was telling me that she was checking at a big hotel booking search engine to find that she would spend €455 for 7 nights (2 adults, 2 kids) in a 2* hotel in a touristic island that was not top destination plus € 280 for breakfast alone as the hotelier would charge €10 for breakfast per person. “Forty euro for breakfast? For €10 I can buy 2 milks, 2 coffees and 4 cheese pies for all of us every morning,” she said and explained that she had picked a kind of remote and not very touristic village in order to offer her family a cheap vacation. Το the accommodation cost she would need to add €280 for transportation plus at least €70-100 per day for food and extras. A total cost of €at least 1,700 for a week vacation. She expanded her search and at the very end she decided to send the kids for two weeks to grandparent’s home in a village away from the sea. “I may find something cheaper in July,” she said without much hope.
By these prices no wonder that 75% of Greeks say that they will have no summer vacation this year. According to INKA survey,
75% of respondents had economic reasons for not going to vacation.
25% of respondents who said that they will go on vacation
40% said that the vacation will be of maximum 5-day-duration and thus either at family homes in villages or at friends’ and relatives’ homes.
40% of the respondents said they had their own summer house
30% said they would spend their vacation in friends’ or relatives’ homes
30% in hotels or in other accommodations like rent a summer house/apartment/room.
According to the survey:
-4 days summer vacation will have 40% of the families
– 7 days 25% of the families
– 10 days 20% of the families
– 15 days 13% of the families
– 20 days for just 2% of the families.
The times when Greek families used to rent an summer house or apartment with kitchen and spend two months next to the sea with kids and granies while the father would come over the weekend are long gone.
