“Greeks should have summer vacations in the village, not on the islands,” deputy Migration Minister Sofia Vultepsi said on Wednesday, clearly implying that the islands are no longer for Greeks who can’t afford the high transport prices but for the tourists.
“There is a problem on the islands, people can go on holiday to the village to the inland,” she arrogantly claimed in an interview with Open TV.
Voultepsi’s proposal came amid a big discussion that many Greeks cannot go on vacation this year due to high prices in transport and accommodation especially on the islands.
Already in June and through its affiliated mass media, the government propaganda started to praise the Staycation, that is a holiday spent in one’s home country rather than abroad, or one spent at home and involving day trips to local attractions.
“Certainly for the whole world vacations are problematic, that’s why we’ve seen for many years now the pensioners of Germany, let’s say, coming to Greece who have two pensions, they’re saving. (…)”, she said and emphasized that “This should not happen because holidays are also a human right”.
She then stated that “people find ways out, without saying that there shouldn’t be a solution. They may go to the village, they may go inland. There is definitely an issue on the islands and more solutions must be found.”
“All countries have poor people, there is no ideal situation,” Voultepsi added.
The deputy minister’s statements triggered a wave of outrage with biting, insulting and swearing comments on social media.
Holidays at home for 1 in 4
Vultepsi’s statements come at a time when, according to the figures of the European Trade Union Confederation, almost 40 million Europeans cannot take even a week’s vacation because of high prices.
According to the collected data, 25% of Greeks stay at home and spend their summer in the city this year.
Together with Cypriots, Greeks occupy the second position of citizens who are unable to pay the exorbitant costs for summer vacations.
However, even those who manage to take a vacation, choose nearby destinations and chase the discounts and special offers.
However, year after year, more and more households find it difficult to take vacations, which is also seen in hotel reservations, which show a decrease.
It should be noted that the tourist sector in destinations popular by Greeks for summer vacation has been complaining about a sharp drop in revenues.
PS sadly, deputy minister Voultepsi did not specify the village I should have my august vacations and I feel kind of lost…
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Of all the arrogant, contemptible utterances by Greek “government” representatives, this has to be one of the worst.
Having chosen to be tourism putanas, doing everything they can to destroy the nation’s environment and Greek traditions/culture, now they choose to demonstrate even more emphatically their utter contempt for the citizens of this country.
When will Greece wake up and say “enough”?
The problem is the the ever increasing ferry prices,if Greeks have a cottage on Crete lets say,so accommodation is sorted,still for a car,mum and dad,three kids the ticket is around one thousand two hundred,bit of a killer,on Hydra a double room is around one thousand seven hundred per night,that hurts….so,we have only high earners,rich, going on holiday in their own country.You know they say…dont fly off everywhere,holiday in your own country….well first its beyond a logical budget AND we are now so afraid of being trapped inside a raging Greek fire,holidaying inside Greece you put your family at risk…so better to jet off to a nice Turkish complex where the kids will have the best time ever as staff entertain them all day,full food and drinks all day in the price,next to the sea and many pools,evening entertainment every night,and the price is real good,doable for lower earners,which is most of us after the rent,food and tax.I think there is a new ferry point for turkey somewhere,might be OK price,just a thought, so as to at least have a holiday,children do so love holidays,the exictment is off the scale,bless them.
Not in this life time sorry to say
I wonder if there is a single member of the Greek government that has at least a minimum level of empathy and who doesn’t live in their own clouds. Come on… Only one please!
It is undeniable, that mass tourism is a fast increasing problem, especially on islands like Santorin and Mykonos. If there is nothing done about it, tourist will so longer be welcome by the locals like on Mallorca or Venezia.
It is still time to learn from those, but not much time.To find the right ballance is difficult as the tourists bring money. But if their holiday location runs out of resources like water and electricity they might begin to stay away by themselves.
Of course, in that case, I expect the locals to be blaimed by the government (again).
😳
For some reason the politicians in many country’s are racing to set people up against each other. This is solely a political problem and created by them, it’s NOT the tourists problem. Direct the problem where it belongs, and make your vote count.
When I first came to work in Greece in 1997 IKA (now EFKA) had a scheme of subsidised holidays for workers on low wages paying into IKA. I didn’t qualify but several of the people I worked with had made use of the scheme. Has that now been abandoned?
This is a load of crap. People should be allowed to vacation where they want, if they have the time off, and can afford it. Suppose the US government dictated to citizens, that they can’t go to Las Vegas, or Disneyland or Honolulu….due to it being “overcrowded” and “expensive”.
The suggestion to holiday in Turkey, “because it is less expensive”, won’t “fly” with a number of Greeks. The perception of “supporting your enemy’s economy” would not sit over well.
Who ever heard a politician talking sense? Just ignore them and get on with your life as best you can.
And is it a case of high prices or low wages or both?