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86% of Greeks see tourism as the only way out of crisis, but……

Isn’t this a contradiction in terms of what we see on a daily basis?
In a recent survey by MRB, a staggering 86% of Greeks stated that they believe tourism has the potential to take Greece out of the crisis.
The figures were released at the Greek tourism body’s (SETE), Annual General Meeting.
According to the survey, 72% of respondents believe that tourism is the principal hope for Greece and 73% think that the country’s tourism industry contributes heavily to its social cohesion.
Mr. Andreadis, the outgoing President, also stressed that if Greece equalled Spain as far as taxation, stability, investment environment and infrastructure are concerned, it would be among the top ten tourist destinations in the world.
Whether it is reasonable to compare Spain and Greece with regard to their tourist market capacity, or any other of the above, is questionable, but the Tourist Industry is, by all accounts, the one industry still standing in Greece and which seems to have had the key impact on the economy and employment throughout the ongoing financial crisis.
On a local level, it would be interesting to see who and how many have a similar opinion, as recent complaints about the bad attitude of owners and staff in shops and food outlets, of over inflated and unreasonably high prices, of businesses not issuing receipts (so obviously tax evading), poor standard of facilities at public places and sites, strike actions and overall issues with cleanliness and maintenance in the area, do not give the impression of a community investing long term and into the future of tourism.
On the contrary, this is the contradiction as all of the afore mentioned, give the impression of a community that is (let’s hope not consciously), destroying all the hard work of others over many, many years, to consolidate the brand name of Crete, of Agios Nikolaos, of a very special place to so many, with no thought for the whole, but only the “me”, the “Εγώ”.
S.K.