Author Topic: Bash Greece, get a free plug?  (Read 4771 times)

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Offline Maik

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Bash Greece, get a free plug?
« on: Friday, 15 May, 2015 @ 02:10:36 »
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British holidaymakers issued fresh warnings over 'risky' travel to cash-strapped Greece
BRITONS heading to cash-strapped Greece for their summer holidays have been issued with new warnings, as the country's economic crisis deepens.

With the Greek finance minister this week claiming his country is just two weeks away from total bankruptcy, holiday-makers have been warned that heading to the southern European country to soak up the Mediterranean sun is "risky".

If Athens doesn't agree a bailout deal with its creditors soon, Greece is expected to have little alternative but to crash out of the euro - a move that could spark economic and political turmoil across the continent.

James Hickman, managing director of foreign currency provider Caxton FX, said: "The heightened state of uncertainty has made it risky travelling to, or planning a trip to Greece, as the Greek ATMs may stop issuing euros if the Eurozone falls apart and there is a bank run."

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has advised British travellers not to rely on credit or debit cards only, saying that travellers should take more than one means of payment with them when leaving the UK.

It also warns of the threat of regular strikes and demonstrations in Greece, which have become a regular occurrence as the country's economic crisis has deepened.

However, around a third of British travellers are not aware of the political turmoil and instability that is gathering pace in Greece, according to a survey carried out by Caxton FX.

Two million Brits head to Greece every year, according to the FCO.

Nicholas Ebisch, a currency analyst at Caxton FX, said: “If you are heading to Greece, be sure to take some holiday cash with you to be on the safe side, and plan to head to Athens at least one or two days before you are scheduled to fly back home so you will have time to remedy any internal travel inconveniences.
http://www.express.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/577227/British-holidaymakers-issued-fresh-warnings-over-risky-travel-to-cash-strapped-Greece

Still can't find any new warning re Greece on the FCO website and, according to an article in the Guardian:

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Greece’s tourism chief... dispelled reports that Britons visiting Greece should pack extra cash. Recent coverage has cited a Foreign and Commonweath Office warning that ATMs could be turned off to stem a bank run. “This is an old warning issued back in 2012 when Greece was seriously at risk of defaulting,” he said. “The FCO itself has denied it.”

Tourist operators also dismissed the reports as alarmist.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/02/greece-tourists-credit-cards-tax-evasion

As for strikes:

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"Greece paralysed by strikes". Nonsense. We've all heard or read it and it just shows you can't always believe what's in the media.  Greece has got some great strikers but, like soccer, its too hot to play the game in summer so striking is mostly a winter sport, a good way to keep warm on a cold day when you can't afford heating. And, like soccer, all the real action takes place in parts of Athens and Thessaloniki. There's some active participants on Kef and other islands but the pace of life is so relaxed on Kef it's not always easy to know whether someone's on strike or working normally.
http://www.goinggreek.info/strikes.html


There may be one piece of good advice in the Excess story:

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Experts have said travellers thinking of holidaying in Greece should consider buying travel insurance with robust cancellation cover included, as soon as they book their holiday.
http://www.express.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/577227/British-holidaymakers-issued-fresh-warnings-over-risky-travel-to-cash-strapped-Greece

Although that probably applies just as much to any other destination, not just Greece.

This and the Telegraph article look like good examples of inventive British 'journalism'.

Oh well, Caxton got a free plug and, who knows, maybe Lana Clements got a free holiday in Lanzarote.

Oh, and don't you just love the advice to "plan to head to Athens at least one or two days before you are scheduled to fly back home so you will have time to remedy any internal travel inconveniences."

For anyone planning on doing that, here's the Kef-Athens bus timetable
 :iroll: