Are Holidays to Geece in Jeopardy?

Monday, 21 May 2012 15:15
The economic turmoil in Europe at the moment has led to holiday companies putting in place measures of what to do should there be economic and civil upheaval in southern Europe - put simply, for many holiday makers and providers alike: Greece is the word.

I was planning a last minute getaway to one of the Greek Islands next month, and I must admit to being both concerned and optimistic about my trip. Optimistic: the euro appears to be devaluing against the pound, good news for those travelling within the Eurozone. This week, the euro has reached 1.25€ to the £ and is expected to keep devaluing further in light of the Eurozone crisis. In short, more euros for your pounds = more spending money! But Concerned: what's going to happen to Greece? What if airlines stopped flying to Greece? What if the country 'closed'?
Given the problems, and especially with the “Arab Spring” still not too distant in the memory, a lot of holiday makers are quite worried about whether similar scenes will occur in Greece, with people revolting against the austerity regime that was in place.
Things are expected to come to a head during next month’s elections and it seems as though the holidaymakers are expecting a reduced demand for holidays in Greece.

Contingency Measures

TUI has revealed it has put contingency measures in place in case Greece does exit the Eurozone, which does look increasingly likely. They have hinted they could shift capacity away from the Greek Islands if the situation in the country worsens following the elections.
A spokesman said “We cannot predict what is going to happen, however, the inherent flexibility in our business model gives us the ability to move capacity dependent on where our customers want to go, for example, last year, we moved capacity away from North Africa due to the Arab Spring.”
There are also reports that Greeks are already pulling their euros out of the banks, with a reported €700m withdrawn on Monday alone. The Greeks have rejected a political party that had agreed to austerity measures in return for two bailouts by the IMF and a second round of elections will be held next month after days of coalition talks failed to end with a new government.
The bailout funding provided by Greece’s Eurozone neighbours seems about to be cut off, which would make the nation effectively bankrupt and surely lead to its exit from the Eurozone. Some analysts are predicting chaos as the Greek currency (whatever it may be – perhaps a possible return to the drachma) would become worthless.

Greece still popular for holiday makers

Thomas Cook, however, has said there would be positives as well as negatives for the travel industry if Greece left the Euro. The operator refused to expand beyond saying that the country remained popular and “great value” for holidaymakers.
A TUI spokesperson said “ Greece remains a popular destination for our customers and we anticipate that it will remain so. We have contingency plans in place should the country exit the Eurozone and we continue to work with our Greek suppliers and hotel partners as we keep a very close eye on the situation”.
Quite reassuringly they stated “The comfort and well-being of our customers is of paramount importance to us. In the unlikely event that civil unrest does break out near our resorts. We have tried and tested procedures for ensuring that our customers are looked after.”
Noel Josephides, MD of Sunvil said their sales were 12% down since the elections although the operator has cut 7% capacity, mainly in May. He also said Greece would be cheaper if they returned to the drachma. “This is a definite, as client’s spending money will go further”.
Well I’m planning on going at the start of June, which is not too far away! I imagine the euro will still be in place at that stage, but hopefully it has reduced in value so that I effectively have more spending money! I think that with travelling to Greece over the next few months timing will be everything. Although holidays may become cheaper over the following months this has to be balanced against the possible civil unrest. Knowing my luck, it will probably rain the whole time I’m there in any event.

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