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.

It’s a beautiful country. Do your research. Choose an island that has good ferry connections that does not have an airport and you will be welcomed like an old friend.

Sounds idyllic, hope that we are definitely not viewed as per description above. Tbf people often ask if I’m Swedish/Danish abroad and when visiting a Greek restaurant in our City they thought DH was Greek, he’s also been asked if he is Italian so maybe we get away with been hated in Europe before we open our mouths!

Not been hated before we open our mouths thy should read. I try to learn the local lingo, I wasn’t very good at this in Holland though.

@StarlightLady one reason we've been to Hydra lots of times- no airport, great quick ferry from Athens and doesn't have sandy beaches or package hotels either so tends to get a different crowd and we've never been made anything less than wonderfully welcome

On the language thing, in most countries this is not a problem. I have lived in France and speak English and French but l don’t think the problem was ever about visitors not speaking French so much as an assumption that the locals would speak and understand English. In any non-English speaking country a courteous opening of a conversation “excuse me do you speak English” can often make all the difference.

Not the point of the thread maybe, but cruise tourism (vultures of the seas) has also ruined many places.

Yes, a bit of courtesy goes a long way. I can speak French quite well, bit of Spanish and German, bit of Danish but not really a huge issue in Denmark.

I can get by in Greek, although it usually generates a bit of laughter (I get my tenses wrong), usually it’s easier for both parties if l speak English, l think in most countries it’s a case of appreciating the effort. The key though as you say is showing courtesy.

Having grown up in a very popular seaside resort and had several jobs in the tourist industry, I can categorically state that the rudest and most ignorant folk I ever came across were the Scots, by a country mile( or a hundred)

Is It hard to learn? I found French easier than Spanish but most of my family think Spanish is easier to learn than French!

Controversial!

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.

Them expecting it and them getting it are two different things surely? No one has to cook them a full English breakfast. People need to eat so they will either end up eating what is on offer or going elsewhere on their holidays,

@Goldenbear I found Hej and tak worked great in Denmark- anything else I could get by100% in English although by the time we left I was good on reading when it came to food, car parks and days of week etc!! Not an easy language at all

I'm not really sure what your point is. Are you suggesting that the cafés, restaurants and bars in the resorts that cater to the British market should stop doing that? I'm not sure that's realistic. Certainly not in the short term.

Yes, not easy but I should know more as spoken a bit by my Grandmother due to - I don’t really though so about embarrassing.

Embarrassing as I am always addressed first in Danish as is my son.

Yes to reading it and also watching TV and translating.

Especially those cruise ships which have several thousands of passengers. If you are planning to visit a place and you have flexibility to when you visit, and is a cruise ship stop, check online to find out which cruise ships are porting that day. Can make a HUGE difference if a small city has 3 ships porting with 15k passengers v none/a small ship. Dubrovnik is a classic example.

My parents do river cruises and due to the obvious reasons, the boats have 80-140 people on them. Plus towns and cities were developed due to the river so 95% of the stops are in the city centres. Also some cruises don't do a loop - start/finish at the same place. One of the river cruises one week, the passengers have a 3 hour drive from airport to boat and got 30 mins drive from boat to airport. Then the next river boat group does the vice versa.

Download the Google Translate app and when connected to wifi - download the language you need so don't need to roam when using it.

A simple way - charge MORE for British food dishes! All English Breakfast charge €2-3 more than local dishes.

For what purpose?

It started out as a good idea. A way for locals to make a bit of extra cash from their spare room, and for tourists to get a decent place to stay without spending a fortune. But now, it's become an industry to the detriment of locals looking to rent a place and residential neighbourhoods becoming full of transient visitors.

It needs to be either banned or strictly regulated.

Need to charge higher CT rates for 2nd homes. Is it just 10% for second homes? If people can afford 2 or more homes, then they can afford a few grand more for CT.

Encourage the Brits that local cuisine is nicer. Give me a paella over an all day English Breakfast any day.

Wonder how many have never sampled local cuisine because they 'presume' they won't like it?

In don't know about elsewhere in the UK, but local councils can opt to charge double the standard council tax rate in Scotland for second homes.