Greek Tourism Resilient Despite Violent Protests

Thousands of tourists are flocking to Athens despite the recent violent clashes between police and protesters.

The anti-austerity demonstrations, complete with fires, fights and tear gas, may have hurt Greece’s image abroad, but tourism officials believe the sector will do well this year.

In Greece, tourism accounts for one in five jobs and 16 percent GDP and some tourists feel coming here is a way to support the crisis-hit country.

[Jack, Tourist from Sweden]:

„This is the time to support the Greeks, not to leave them behind.“

[Adrian, U.S. Tourist from California]:

„My husband and I were not there actually for the riots but we had this trip to Greece planned for well over a year now and much to our surprise the riots occurred, and the tour company that we are over here on made certain they opted for the fact that they wanted our group’s safety, that was pre-eminent, that came first. And so as a result they relocated our group to a very lovely hotel outside of Athens to prevent us from being in the center. However, just yesterday we were moved to the Grande Bretagne and had a chance to see where the protests occurred and parliament, and be able to really live history.“

These tourists from Spain say they understand the demonstrators and aren’t discouraged from visiting Greece.

[Marta, Spanish Tourist from Segovia]:

„It is like in Spain. We have the same situation. The people in Spain demonstrated because the situation there is very bad. So I think it is a normal reaction.“

Austerity measures passed by parliament to deal with Greece’s debt crisis saw two days of violent clashes between police and protesters.

The riots took place in the city center, around the parliament building, with injuries to both demonstrators and police.

Foto: NTD