Author Topic: Commission corruption  (Read 10494 times)

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Offline Maik

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Commission corruption
« on: Wednesday, 29 October, 2014 @ 12:04:10 »
Quote
Rackets corner souvenir market at the foot of the Acropolis

Kathimerini found itself amid the throng during an investigation into reports that there are rackets operating in the area whose members direct tourists to souvenir and other shops with which they have made deals on a commission basis. We were not prepared, however, for just how blatantly it is done.

During the critical hours of 8-11 a.m., when tour bus traffic is at its peak, the coach drivers park right outside specific stores and instruct their passengers to do their shopping there. We observed an American couple – they had a Stars-and-Stripes pin on their bag – looking at a display of fridge magnets at a souvenir shop. “No, not here!” shouted the taxi driver who had brought them and was waiting to take them back. “I’ll tell you where to go – good prices!”

According to the president of the National Confederation for Greece Commerce and the Piraeus Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Vassilis Korkidis, the phenomenon of “manipulated shopping” is responsible, in part at least, for the discrepancy between visitor numbers and turnover in tourist retail markets.

“One of the reasons is manipulated shopping, which ensnares consumers or takes advantage of the limited amount of time they have [to spend at a destination], as is the case with cruise tourists. Tourists are directed to specific shops and possibly restaurants by people who then earn a cut of proceeds. It is an unwritten rule of the market,” said Korkidis.

Indeed, tourists traveling with groups are rarely given enough time to walk around and shop at their leisure.

“They are brought and taken away like sheep. We never get to see them,” said Alexandros Debic, the owner of a store that is off the rackets’ turf. “They are ushered into shops where products are hugely overpriced to include the commission that the guides or private drivers will get. Cabbies have their own group of stores and get commission as well.”

Kathimerini managed to obtain a contract between a cruise company based in Santa Clarita, California and a souvenir shop in the Acropolis area according to which the shop would be “recommended” to cruise passengers for a fee of $50 per group.

Vassilis Petalas, a lawyer in Piraeus who has drawn up a number of similar contracts, says there is nothing illegal about the practice.

What is certain is that such phenomena do nothing to help Greece’s image or tourism, one of its main sources of revenue.

“Anyone who is put through this trauma will go back to the ship and ask themselves why they came to Greece,” said Debic.

“We need to put an end to these bad habits and give consumers the freedom to make their own choices,” stressed Korkidis.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite6_1_24/10/2014_543959

Offline Aristarches

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Re: Commission corruption
« Reply #1 on: Thursday, 30 October, 2014 @ 11:28:04 »
Why is this news?  This sort of thing has always happened.  Reps getting backhanders from shops, tavernas and bars?  Who would have  thought it.

Offline Bluenose

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Re: Commission corruption
« Reply #2 on: Friday, 31 October, 2014 @ 00:38:22 »
Why is this news?  This sort of thing has always happened.  Reps getting backhanders from shops, tavernas and bars?  Who would have  thought it.
Good grief Charlie Brown can it really be true ? Oh no! As your train of thought points out Ari,tell us something we don't know. Stroll on...

Offline Maik

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Re: Commission corruption
« Reply #3 on: Friday, 31 October, 2014 @ 18:25:04 »
Believe it or not, some seem to believe that the rep / hotelier / taxi-driver / travel writer / Trip Advisor user / etc. is a gourmet who has regularly eaten at every taverna on the island and fully qualified to state which are the best. Impartially and out of the goodness of their heart, of course.

Reps are usually paid partly on commission and, in my (fifteen year) experience in the tourism industry in Greece, few take backhanders.

The difference?

Quote
Kathimerini managed to obtain a contract between a cruise company based in Santa Clarita, California and a souvenir shop in the Acropolis area according to which the shop would be “recommended” to cruise passengers for a fee of $50 per group.

Vassilis Petalas, a lawyer in Piraeus who has drawn up a number of similar contracts, says there is nothing illegal about the practice.

“There is a gap in the legislation, many loopholes and confusion between touting and manipulation. When shopping is part of the standard tour and the program is given to tourists, then it is completely legal,” he explained. “In contrast, when you direct tourists to a location that is not part of the tour program and do so without an agreement, meaning that the commissions are not declared, then you are violating touting laws. As long as there is an agreement, then the commission is declared and taxed.”

In short: if the arrangement is between the tour organiser and the business and is declared to the tax-man it's legal.

In theory, the company can be more competitive by reducing the cost of the tour to the customer.

Reps may likely get a commission from the business depending on the customer spend, in which case they are paid less because they will/can earn commission, i.e. it's part of their wages.

That's different to e.g. a taxi driver taking people to a certain shop because they get a kickback, or a hotelier recommending a certain taverna because it's run by his brother / cousin / niece / best mate.

As I see it, the problem is that the system has been corrupted by some companies using tours primarily as a means to feed tourists into certain establishments and reps / guides who are (overly) insistent that tourists only use 'recommended' establishments.

Offline TonyKath

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Re: Commission corruption
« Reply #4 on: Saturday, 01 November, 2014 @ 20:00:17 »
If I remember right there was a punch up between Greeks in Agia Evfimia a few years back over this very issue when a non-recommended taverna owner tried to make his point.  We missed the main event but had been on the "tour" previously and knew what went on.

Tony