Crete – tourism: Low expectations and … a small basket from the hoteliers

The hoteliers of Heraklion and Lassithi are keeping the bar of expectations very low, in view of the new tourist season, as the pandemic has left its mark on the once golden tourist product of the island!

Thus, after a “dead” year, as it was last year, for tourism in our country, this season, the political leadership of the Ministry of Tourism has set a goal to achieve – even by 50% – what our country has achieved, the spectacular 2019!

However, the tourist operators in Crete are lowering the bar and stressing that with the negligible bookings so far, we can not talk about a successful tourist season and even if there is no new reversal with the restrictive measures and possibly a sharp increase of cases at any time. and moment…

Speaking to “Radio Crete” the president of the hoteliers of Lassithi, Manolis Varkarakis, pointed out that the reservations so far are zero, there are mainly last year’s vouchers, and the faster they clear, as he said, procedural issues related mainly to vaccinations and certificates from EU countries but mainly from third countries which now includes Britain, but mainly Russia and the USA, then we can not talk about a return to normalcy and in any case not before the end of May! That is, as he analyzed, everything is in the air!

According to the president of the hoteliers of Heraklion, Mr. Nikos Chalkiadakis, who spoke to “Radio Crete” and George Papadakis, we should “forget this Easter and April in general, while May will be bad”!

From June onwards, as Mr. Chalkiadakis said, the certainty is that the market will open first with the Germans and then with the British, with the basic condition of vaccinations.

The hoteliers, as a whole, are protesting against the time chosen by the Ministry and the Decentralized Administration of Crete to proceed with the issue of the demolition of arbitrary buildings on the seashore, especially in areas belonging to hotel complexes. The hoteliers emphasize that a committee should be set up and each case should be evaluated separately and they ask for time …

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