Discover Kefalonia!

I quote travel mole today

“McEwan said it was a misconception to think that buying travel online was cheaper, while independent agents offer the added value of expert, impartial advice for free.”

I disagree with this!

I do not see how they can offer expert advice. It is impossible for any high street travel agent to know all the accommodation and locations they offer their clients in their shop. So how can they be expert? For example if you go to T. Cook’s website and look for Agia Kyriaki in Kefalonia what you see is a picture of Agadir Morocco (I think) certainly not Agia Kyriaki Kefalonia. The beach at Agia Efimia is the beach at Agia Paraskevi, and I could go on with examples of inaccuracies from most of the other major travel companies. I know this because I am a local expert on Kefalonia and find it very funny.

If you want the proof it is here http://www.thomascook.com/destinations/greece/kefalonia/aghia-kyriaki/

If you want to know what Agia Kyriaki looks like try here
http://www.astro-holidays.com/zola.html

Not so sure a high street travel agent’s client who booked to go there would find it so funny. Plus how would the average travel agent know to correct the client? They trust to the brochures.

The real truth is, only a very few of the independent high street travel agents can compete with the local experts selling their holidays online.

Paul

I don’t know if any of you guys caught Papandreou on Andrew Marr’s show this morning you can see it here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8526823.stm

It looks like he wants his credit rating back! i also think give it a few months and he will be asking for a loan. One point not repeated on line was his threat to go to the Chinese or Russians for help. That’s all we need ruddy Russian mafia and the Tongs in Kefalonia!

I did like his pitch at the end for the English to holiday in Greece this year. Also not repeated by the BBC in their online version I notice!

I took this from the BBC web site.

BBC wrote:
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has told the BBC his country is not looking for an EU bailout to help cut its debt levels effectively. He said Greece needs political support to enable it to borrow money at the same interest rate as other countries. Greece has one of Europe’s highest budget deficits and has vowed to cut its debt in the next three years. It also plans to cut the country’s deficit from the current 12.7% of its annual gross domestic product to 2.8%. Greece’s debts currently amount to more than 100% of its GDP. Mr Papandreou told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that his party had been voted in late last year on a mandate for change, for which it had the support of the Greek people. “Give us the time, give us the support – and I’m not talking about financial but political support – in order to show you that what we’re saying is being implemented and we are credible again,” he said. “We don’t have at this point a need for borrowing. Our borrowing needs are covered until mid-March. What we’re saying is simply that we need the help so we can borrow at the same rate at other countries, not at the high rates that undermine the possibility for making the changes [to Greece's deficit].” Meanwhile, a German magazine reported the country’s finance ministry had drafted a plan for eurozone countries to provide Greece with aid worth up to 25bn euros (£22bn) for Greece.
Der Spiegel said each country would pay according to its proportion of capital in the European Central Bank. However a German finance ministry spokesman “completely rejected” the speculation. Following concerns that it would be unable to meet its pledges on cutting debt levels, European leaders earlier this week told Greece to make further cuts to spending and public sector wages or face sanctions.

‘Reckless and corrupt’
Mr Papandreou said Greece was prepared to “go further” to improve its financial position. He recently said that his country’s high levels of debt were simply a consequence of the previous conservative government’s policies, which focused too much on “short-term profit”. He called the previous administration, which was replaced by Mr Papandreou’s Panhellenic Socialist government in October last year, “reckless and corrupt”. Following concerns that it would be unable to meet its pledges on cutting debt levels, European leaders earlier this week told Greece to make further cuts to spending and public sector wages or face sanctions. Despite the fact that Mr Papandreou said his government was enjoying a popularity rating of between 62% and 69%, public sector workers have been striking across Greece. Greek customs workers ended a five-day strike against the planned austerity measures on Saturday and the country’s biggest union is due to hold a major protest action next week.

So, how do you think he did. Credible or not? I am not so convinced Greece will crawl out of this without help from the Germans and French. Thank the lord we are not in the euro zone!

On 1st January 2009 the smoking ban came into force in Greece. Almost! They thought this was too much of a shock for the Greeks to handle, so delayed it until 1st July 2009.

Every one ignored that date as well! In an attempt to adhere to EU guidelines this was started again from 1st January 2010. It seems this has been ignored as well!

Why mention this?

It demonstrates the Greek unwillingness to have anything imposed on them they do not like. They offer fantastic value for money to the British tourist. Bigger problems exist in Greece than who is smoking what and where, or even the pound/euro situation. I agree tourism is not the solution to Greece’s financial problems. But by far the biggest problem to Greek tourism is the big tour operator, who should in reality, be one of their solutions. It is the tour operator who has encouraged development of large complexes on little Greek islands. Then just walk away when it no longer suits. I point to Kefalonia Gardens formerly Kefalonia Aqua Beach club near Lixouri. A carbuncle on the landscape and totally empty and has been for the last two years! It was only built 4 years ago.

It would help if the tour operators would offer to pay a correct amount of money to Greek landlords and hotels and not the industry average of 10 euros a day for a studio apartment. For this they expect the landlord to provide, maintain and upgrade on a regular basis, the accommodation itself, water, electricity, cleaning services and fresh laundered linens a couple of times a week.

With the Greeks being so independent in nature, just how did the tour operators get the upper hand? Working with a tour operator these days’ amounts to little more than working in a sweatshop in downtown Mumbai or Singapore for similar rates of pay. The Greek accommodation providers can see no way to break the stranglehold the tour operators hold over the Greek islands. The attitude is “Take it or we leave it!”

This is little more than Bully Boy tactics and not what I would call sustainable!

We talk about sustainable tourism yet rates to landlords have not increased one euro in the 5 years I have been in Kefalonia. However costs and taxes have escalated by huge amounts annually. This in today’s world is no longer acceptable or sustainable.

Over the last 5 years www.astro-holidays.com has changed the business model. This year Astro-Holidays launched a new site www.holidaysinkefalonia.com using the same business model. Our landlords get three and four times the daily rate offered by the big tour operators and whilst they are only half as busy these days, their costs are far less and the bottom line profit line is twice and triple what it was under the old system. They are no longer busy fools and can afford to re-invest this extra money into their properties and their community plus take a holiday themselves! Understandably those who have changed are reluctant to return to the old system.

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Paul