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Fearing Capital Controls, Tourists Request Hotel Safes In Greece
On Friday, Austrian finance minister Hans Schelling said he assumed Austrian tourists vacationing in Greece would still be able to withdraw money from ATMs on Monday, but if not, Schelling indicated he would need to “discuss with leaders what positions have to be taken.”
If that doesn’t inspire much confidence or perhaps makes you rethink any plans you might have had to join Yanis Varoufakis for a scenic Aegean sunset on the island of Aegina, you’re not alone. In fact, ATM operator Travelex has the following tip for anyone considering a trip to Greece: “Our advice is to exercise caution.”
In a sign of the times, Bloomberg reports that contentious negotiations between Greece and the troika combined with talk of looming capital controls have sparked renewed interest in a long-forgotten hotel perk. Here’s more:
Greek resort manager Kostas Dimitrokalis’s customers have started asking in recent weeks about an amenity often ignored in an age of online and credit card payments: reliable hotel safes to stash their money.
“Clients want to feel secure that if something happens, they’ll have funds,” Dimitrokalis, who heads the KD Hotels chain with six resorts on the island of Santorini, said in a telephone interview. “They’re coming with more cash.”
Helping travelers rest easy is something Dimitrokalis can handle. More troubling for him is what if they simply don’t come at all? While his hotels are full right now, Dimitrokalis says forward bookings are weak given the uncertainty surrounding the country’s financing.
That’s a sentiment echoed by Greece’s tourism industry as a whole. The Association of Greek
Tourism Enterprises, which said last month that a strong start to the year had been trailing off, declined this week to discuss the possible impact of the government’s showdown with creditors because “the situation is just too fluid"..
Tourism generates 17 percent of gross domestic product in Greece, meaning any slowdown would hit the economy hard. Before the latest flareup in the funding dispute, the country was heading toward a record year for visitors, with the number of tourists surging 46 percent in the first quarter to 1.73 million, according to the latest data from the Bank of Greece.
TUI AG, Europe’s largest tour operator, said it’s only had sporadic inquiries from travelers about the impact a Greek exit from the euro would have on their holiday, while Thomas Cook Group Plc said it still sees strong demand for travel to the country. Both companies said trips wouldn’t be affected because they are selling package tours to customers.
The advice from experts for travelers heading to the country is to keep abreast of the latest developments and bring along enough cash to last 3-4 days just in case, said David Swann, a spokesman for Travelex.
This speaks to why a dramatic VAT hike has been a non-starter for Greece in its negotiations with creditors — Athens fears it will kill the "one industry that's doing well," to quote the country's tourism chief. In fact, the VAT issue is so sensitive that Yorgos Hatzimarkos, governor of vacation destinations such as Mykonos and Santorini, has threatened to hold a referendum on the issue. Now, the threat of a bank holiday and restricted access to deposits has given vacationers one more reason to avoid Greece.
In short, just about the last thing the country's tourism industry needs is capital controls. If the ATMs go dark next week, the flow of vactioners will likely dry up quickly, safes or no safes.
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When I was a teenager, a "safe" was a condom. I never hear that slang any more though. Was it just a 70s thing, or what?
Any tourist in Greece during the Grexit must be trying for a Darwin Award.
Why not? Buck the trend and go to places during historical moments of change, more memorable. You learn alot and have more fun. I was in Greece when the financial crisis started, and when the heavy rioting happened. You really learn alot about a nation's psyche when its tested the most. I had alot of fun. Parties, banging Greek girls, rioting, soaking it all up, living life on the edge. Haha.
I was also there when the rioting started. Never got to see one....saw some riot dogs wandering, lots of graffiti, lots of police blockades...but no real riots...just the mess afterward. You always think you "Want to see it". But if you are truley in the middle of it, it may not be fun. Just sayin...
We'll settle for a hot chick report...whaddya got?
He was in Greece, not Ukraine. ;-)
Well, Berlin April 1945 would have been your thing!
But seriously (sort of), the intial riots are usually ok, but if things get out of hand (ukraine, Tehran '70s, Havana 50's, Saigon 70's etc, new York 2016 (?)). Not sure you still want to be there....
Hope you wore a "safe" , that shit wont wash off.
All that learnin' and you ain't lernt enuff.
First off.... "A lot" is two words... Not one. No such word as "alot" ok?
Type-o? Twice?
And banging your mom Greek style while watching riots in Greece on TV does not constitute "banging Greek girls"
I have to admit, the fact that you're playing it heterosexual is impressive... Although, I'm a bit suspicious... Not that there is anything wrong with that. (On the downlow... yes there is...shhhh)
Lemme guess... assuming that you play chess, you're a 1-move ahead player, right?
Hell that's when the Best Deals are to be had. Just ask my friend, the Price Negotiator.
Vacation in Greece?
Right now?
Unless arriving by private yacht, not a chance.
Why So? Your fiat goes a long way. The Tourist Industry remains intact and solvent.
Maybe look closer to home when your ATM says sorry.
im going in 30days not a worry in the world, no one on any of the islands uses banks , most of the islands operate on cash only.... all the banks in the world could fail and the greek islands might not even notice.... its plutocrat cities like new york athens etc that would burn... while people on the islands dance and drink.... i have vacationed there tons of times... you bring cash, small bills thats it
Mr. D.,
I also enjoy Greece and have had many wonderful experiences there.
I simply prefer to sidestep nations "on the verge."
Either side of that line is fine with me.
But in the midst of a transition from bad to worse, scared, desperate people often do stupid things, including in island paradises.
Watch your back, brother.
.
.
It's The Best Time for affordable Happy Endings, and deals of any kind.
According to people who know infinitely more about deals and takeovers than you do -- the Rothschilds -- the best time to buy is..."When there's blood in the streets".
The Senate ( McCain ) instructed the IMF that additional Funds to Ukraine took preference over one of NATO ally's, stating that at least 20% of the Funds would be invested in MIC armaments and not wasted bailing out troika and creditors.
I didn't realize Ukraine was part of Greece.
. . . and Israel.
Invite that Olive Oil looking orange bitch from the IMF to Greece for a sit down, relax over a glass of wine and a sunset cruise along the coast and throw that nasty leaky tramp over board, it may not solve much but at least she will regret saying "we can't be prosecuted"
Shirley Valentine approves this message. Gonna put me chips and egg under the mattress. Ok, Wall.
Throw those pathetic bankers into a grease fire already.
Here we go, somewhat related geographically, Hungary is condemned, by the UN for enforcing its borders...lol.
"The announcement by the Government of Hungary that it is preparing to erect a four-metre-high fence to seal its 175-kilometre border with Serbia has been described as "deeply concerning" by the UN human rights office (OHCHR).
If adopted, OHCHR says the measure may prevent asylum seekers, who could be in need of international protection, from accessing Hungarian territory."
http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2015/06/fence-in-hungary-to-seal-border-with-serbia-deeply-concerning/
For some reason (as yet unexplained by the breathless UN reportage) Serbs prefer Hungary, as opposed to their other neighbors, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia or Croatia.
Perhaps its "deeply concerning" to Hungarians that they don't want Serbs running around loose on their territory and would appreciate a little help from Serbia's "neighbors" in taking up the slack.
Or is that what is NOT being explained in te breathless UN reportage? ;-)
"Asylum seekers." The sole purpose of the E.U., the U.N., and all their myriad subordinate organizations is the ethnic cleansing and genocide of all white people.
And the ethnic cleansing in Europe and North America goes on unchecked.
As on display in Greece, government and fraudulent-reserve banksters are only about taking your wealth, your life will do as well.
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission.
What are they stupid. They can use Bitcoin and not worry about it.
Get a bitcoin wallet.
https://blockchain.info
Install app
https://blockchain.info/wallet/iphone-app
https://blockchain.info/wallet/android-app
Exchange Euros for BitCoin (or USD, CAN, whatever)
https://paymium.com/
https://www.quadrigacx.com/
https://www.bitstamp.net/
https://www.bitcoin.de/
Now your wallet/debit card/credit card is your phone. When you buy something, you wave your phone at their phone and the funds transfer. If you lose your phone, you still have your account secure on the blockchain.info servers and are still operational as long as you can remember your account details.
Or if you need cash, use one of the BitCoin ATMs to exchange your BitCoins for Euros...or use Paymium to move local currencies back into an account to spend it.
Surely if the boat goes up then airlines will go bust, wages won't be paid, taxis won't be able to buy fuel, hotels won't be able to buy food and supplies ?? remember Russia in the post soviet days when passengers had to whip round to buy fuel for the flight while on the runwway ?
"remember Russia in the post soviet days when passengers had to whip round to buy fuel for the flight while on the runwway ?
No, I don't. Could you expand on that senario? TIA
They feel safe bringing in cash? Better skip that act for visits to the U.S..
Greece is where all European nations are headed. Overrun with inferior subhuman trash and unable to maintain Western standards of living, economy, and society.
Do you really think you can maintain Western civilization in the absence of Western people? Oh no my friend, Europe and North America are going to be indistinguishable from Africa, Mexico, and the Middle East in the near future. I think everyone believes it, just they thought those 3rd world shit holes would be raised up to Western standards. Laughable. You can't get these people to throw garbage in a trash can, let alone build a Western quality society.
Turns out it will be far easier for the globalists to flood subhumans into the white countries and drag them down to 3rd world standards than the impossible task of turning Africa into Switzerland.
you have to be retarded.
hi
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