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.

Ok, but how would you enforce it? Would it be law? If not, how would you get businesses to comply?
what would happen to the additional charge? Would it be a local tourist tax? Or would it be additional profit for the business owners?

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

This has to be one of the most bonkers things I've read on Mumsnet. By your logic visitors to the UK can have a Greggs sausage roll or fish and chips for a reasonable price but if they want to eat Chinese, Indian or Greek food they have to pay more. Absolutely hilarious.

And you do realise that visitors to the UK don't all eat British food? In the past I have worked with groups of Indian visitors who will only eat Indian food. And so what. It's a free country.

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.

That's exactly what I am suggesting. I was responding to the poster who said 'brits expect and demand Blackpool in the sun'. No one needs to serve an English roast dinner in Crete, or a full English breakfast in Spain. Just serve and sell local cuisine. What's unrealistic about it?

Because it is insane that's why.

Firstly you'd have to define "local cuisine". Good luck with that.

You were responding to me. What I actually said was "They basically want Blackpool, but hotter". I didn't say 'expect and demand'.

So how do you propose to ensure the businesses in these resorts stop selling food made to cater for British palates? The businesses already exist. Are you thinking that will change based on goodwill, or are you thinking that the countries should enact legislation to stop their trade? Because I can't see how that's realistic.

So you're saying private businesses should be told by the government not to serve the food their paying customers want to eat?

And how are you going to define 'local cuisine'?

Did you even read the article? It’s not about British tourists

The article is about British tourists. It's in the headline and in the first sentence.

The issue, however, doesn't appear to be specific to British tourists - that's just the spin that the journalist has taken to make it relevant.

The local cuisine argument is weak. I’ve lived in France (UK born) and travel fairly regularly to Singapore for work. I prefer to eat as the locals do when overseas, but sometimes the locals like a little change too, just as people in the UK do. As for comments about British fish and chips:- Remember the potato is not British and the sea, where fish comes from is, err, fairly international.

By comparison, imagine a UK city/town that did not have Italian, French, Indian, Thai etc eateries.

Yes, exactly. Did OP actually read the article, or just the headline. Clickbait.

The slightly less insane way to do it would be a subsidy for restaurants to offer a "local special" at a cheaper price. A bit like the old Spanish menu del dia.

Wheat isn't native to Italy, so are pizza and pasta not Italian dishes?

That's a pretty weak argument imo. Fish and chips is an inherently British dish.

Pizza is probably American! There is a strange British distortion of the facts that the British invented or owned everything. Fish and chips might be available in Blackpool, but can also be found on local menus throughout mainland Europe and much further afield including Singapore and Malaysia, and they are not all trying to be British restaurants. Plus lots of UK fish and chip shop owners are Cypriot.

One of our favourite places to go in France, an exceedingly French port town on the Med, has a huge amount of fish and seafood places and pretty much all of them serve fish with chips. Now a lot of the fish is grilled with garlic and butter rather than fried in batter, but at its core it is fish and chips.

Although see as traditionally a British creation, fish and chips actually originated in 15 century Portugal.

But why not? What's wrong with serving a roast dinner in Crete?

There's plenty more to a country than just it's food. Most locals won't eat cretian food every day and a lot of 'local food" is still catering to tourists, just a different type.

As with the UK 'local cuisine' is fairly diverse in any place. No British person just eats fish and chips and a bacon sarnie for breakfast, just as a Greek person doesn't eat souvlaki every day. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a variety of cuisines being served in a place

Well.im getting rather tired of the English being slagged off,, when what they actually mean is the British.
It just makes people think that the Welsh the Scots and the Northern Irish are all paragons of virtue

Why? Do you insist on charging more for Chinese dishes in the UK? What about Italian/Thai?

Do you insist that all restaurants in the UK must serve tea and scones at half the price of their usual fair?

Or is it only foreign places you think should stick to their local cuisine.

I'm Scottish, and while I don't recognise myself in your earlier description, I do think you are making a valid point.

Imo the reason that the English get highlighted more than Welsh or Scottish is just because there are a lot more of you. If you are in Ibiza with 10,000 tourists all behaving similarly, and 90% of them are English - then that's what people will notice.

I think it’s really interesting that whilst some parts of Europe are protesting about tourism, Portugal has recently elected a government who had repealing laws introduced late last year that limited the availability of holiday lets as one of their key election promises.

"Pizza is probably American!"

I would love to see where you get that impression.

And I'm not sure where anyone suggested that the British invented everything 😆😆

Nearly every major tourist city in the world has this issue with short term lets reducing the supply of housing for locals and they are trying to deal with it. Dublin brought in controls three years ago and is now targeting income for tax. It's not targeting any group and neither is Athens. Athens doesn't attract the Pissed up Brits Abroad Tourists. They do the Isands or if they want cities it's Estern Europe or Baltics.

Note I said “probably”. It depends what you read, some suggest Naples’ migrants in NYC others suggest Naples itself. Doctor Who was not available to take me back to check.

https://spizzicorestaurant.com/the-origin-of-pizza/

That article doesn't come close to saying that pizza's origins are American. It literally says it's roots are in Italy!

@NeverEnoughPants True! And you can find lots of conflicting stuff both ways in as much that what is eaten today is pretty much an American creation. Another example is the Hamburger, named after the German city but now very much seen as an American creation.

Regardless, throughout history the Italians had a history of popping into Greece and their food went with them, likewise Turkish cuisine. It’s where east meets west. The point l was trying to make is that cuisine often does not have borders and to apply a “local food only” policy anywhere is just not possible.

Pizza can be found throughout Greece and fish and chips can be found in France on Marseilles harbour front and on the banks of the Singapore River. x