Greece, Europe and tourism!

[Jennybeans401]

Greece now joins most of Europe in anti-tourism protests aimed at the British.why? Surely tourism is tourism and why focus just on the Brits?

We are booked to go to Greece,I'm shocked.

There Is a “Brits Abroad” stereotype
of holiday maker which is quite anti social.

Oh I can't blame them.

Other nationalities don't seem to take over a resort and fill it full of places offering their own traditional fare. Many British people go abroad expecting to get a full English, fish and chips, a roast dinner etc, and go to pubs that are a reflection of what they'd get at home. They basically want Blackpool, but hotter.

I can't imagine the people of Blackpool being too impressed if, say, Germans came over, expected everyone to speak German, and everywhere to offer Bratwurst and schnitzel.

The protests relate specifically to Athens and are aimed at tourism the rise of Airbnbs in particular. I also can't see anything to suggest this is aimed at a British tourists in particular, other than the way it has been written up by the British trash press. I think you can probably be in shocked now and continue to look forward to your sunny break on a Greek island.

The locals want to afford homes for their families not air b&bs for tourists. It doesn’t take much googling.

It's a shame since so many of us don't fit that stereotype.Some of the placards and graffiti is strongly worded.Perhaps there is so much resentment at British people buying property abroad during this recession when housing is expensive.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/travel/greece-joins-lanzarote-tenerife-demanding-29170521

The same is happening in European cities and tourist destinations as is happening in London and other parts of the UK. Too many properties being bought and rented out on Airbnb which means no affordable properties for locals. And businesses such as hotels, restaurants and shops can't get staff as there is nowhere affordable for them to live. It's a big problem.

Sorry OP but that title is so click baity, did you read the article? The protests say nothing about UK tourists in particular and are just protesting general tourism and the way businesses like Airbnb negatively impact locals. I gently suggest you get your news from somewhere other than the Birmingham mail.

Actually they do. Go to Playa de Palma or Arenal in Majorca and it's the German equivalent of Magaluf.

Several other news websites have reported on the same issue focused on British tourists.

It's not aimed at British tourists. Not sure why you think we are being targeted. The protests are aimed at tourism in general and airbnbs. Locals are fed up with not being able to rent flats to live because the owners make more money on airbnb

I don't think these protests are aimed at British tourists that want fish and chips. In Tenerife I believe there are generous tax breaks previously given to the industry and the monetary benefit of tourism isn't being felt by the people that live and work there, with poor wages etc.

I understand why people would feel resentful when housing is hard to find and costs are rising.

There are two different things which are being reported currently.

• the proliferation of Airbnb which is changing the character of tourist destinations and making property unavailable or unaffordable to rent

• the behaviour of tourists abroad which locals are finding unacceptable, eg magaluf in Majorca. We're seeing it reported as that's where British people go, but there are other resorts in Majorca frequented by other nationalities which are complaining about the same thing.

All of these protests are valid in my opinion. However I'm just back from a week in Rhodes and couldn't have been made more welcome.

Its not specifically aimed at the British most of the time. The one exception is the messaging from Amsterdam/the Netherlands which is specifically aimed at UK stag parties. This is because British stag parties going to Amsterdam are particularly lairy. Its a bit hypocritical in the case of the Amsterdam authorities because they absolutely do still want the money. They would just prefer if the people deliberately flying to another country to pay to have sex with women/leer at women in windows were.... nicer/more civilised. Its like a pimp complaining about having to deal with iffy clients basically.

A lot of these destinations have spent decades putting up with visitors behaving atrociously because they think that being on holiday means they are also absolved from taking any social responsibility for themselves. No wonder they are fed up.

Greece spends a significant budget on promoting tourism to individuals/groups and encouraging airlines to fly there. To many residents this is a double edged sword. It provides income, jobs and security, but likewise it inflates prices and puts pressure on services especially housing.

In addition, all inclusive resorts (often foreign owned) are on the increase as they are elsewhere. These provide little, if any benefit to the local economy.

I agree in the case of Amsterdam. It's a bit "City that offers freely available drugs and sex you buy from a shop window, surprised to attract crowds of young men looking for sex and drugs"....

DH and I are going to Athens for a week at the end of the month but are staying in a hotel and are very well behaved! Hope the locals won’t mind us too much!

We are also going to Athens,we are well behaved and like eating local food, shopping and we've always had good experiences in all parts of Greece.

It's got to be tough - I live in a tourist city in the UK. Tourists bring a lot of money and employment to our city. But they also take up houses that could be used for locals - we have loads of AirBnBs. Booking. com etc. All places that could be for locals.

We have high house prices. We value tourists and the opportunities they bring.

How do you balance it?

There should be a limit to the number of Airbnbs in an area to prevent this sort of situation.

I live in a "resort' we need tourism but what we don't need is rich foreigners buying up the homes to use as holiday homes stopping locals from getting onto the housing ladder

We want to retain our cuisine and customs and not have burger bars and English breakfasts

Our street cleaners are out early hosing down the streets after Brits ((largely) have puked. All of them and we are walking our children to school

@Maddy70 I totally agree and I can't stand the idea of people being sick in the streets.Theres still an idea that this is a rite of passage in the UK and that its okay to drink to excess.

Housing issues mean that there should be more regulation for the buying of property abroad.

I think they want hotels not to be AI. As people who stay in them hardly spend a euro outside. AI hotels aren’t really contributing to the local economy but if tourists are going half board, then that’s going to contribute to the local economy more. As tourists tend to eat at cafes and bars at lunchtime, visit tourist attractions (water parks etc), go on the buses to the nearest town, buy ice creams. Then pop to the supermarket for soft drinks in the hotel room, pool area etc

AI hotels maybe the answer for holidays with kids but you can understand why they certain islands and resorts want them banned

I was in Athens a few months ago and it was packed with tourists and bustling. They were from all over the world and the British I saw were well behaved, polite, spending lots of money, respecting the locals.

Scrawling slogans in English on buildings doesnt mean they are targeting Brits, it means most tourists understand English so Tourist Go Home sends a message to Germans, Poles, French, Americans etc.

Secondly, scrawling slogans on buildings could be the work of one of these political groups trying to rabble-rouse and bring down their government - just a thought.