Tourism in Greece feels the pinch of debt crisis

SPETSES, Greece — A statue of Bouboulina, a heroine of the 1821 Greek war of independence against the Ottoman Empire, looks over the harbor of the island of Spetses in the Saronic Gulf. In the summer, the square where she stands usually bustles with activity. Children climb up and down her stone pedestal, and vendors sell popcorn and balloons while people sip coffee and cocktails on the terrace of the elegant Poseidonion Grand Hotel. Every so often, a horse-drawn buggy passes. 

This summer is different. As Greece struggles with a debt crisis that has brought the country’s economy to its knees, most of the Greek tourists who have been going to this graceful island for decades are gone. Stavros Kokkoris, 65, who has been driving his horse and buggy there since 1965, compares today’s crisis to the turbulence of the military dictatorship that ruled from 1967 to 1973. Asked which was worse, he said grimly, “Now. This has been the worst.” 

For Athenians, Spetses is akin to the Hamptons for New Yorkers. Its stately mansions belong to sea captains, ship owners and other wealthy Greeks. The shipping magnates of the Niarchos family own Spetsopoula, a small island covered with pine trees off the southeastern coast of Spetses. Prince Nikolaos of Greece wed there five summers ago. 

But since June 29, when the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was forced to enact capital controls limiting Greeks to 60 euro cash withdrawals daily, tourism there has slowed considerably. The Hellenic Seaways catamaran, which takes visitors from Athens’ port to Spetses, is usually sold out on summer weekends, but last Friday, it was just half full. “People just aren’t traveling. No money,” said Theo Mexas, a Hellenic Seaways steward. “With only 60 euros, how are they going to travel?”

Storeowners, hotel owners and restaurateurs are feeling the pinch. Many say business has been down by about 40 percent since capital controls went into effect. “The market is dead. The Greek tourists are gone,” said Pantelis Kokkoris, 64, the owner of a small clothing and trinket shop. “In the old days, money seemed to be everywhere. People came, stayed for a month, bought a ball for their child, a bathing suit. Now, nothing.”

The story is the same up and down the narrow streets. Demetrios Andriotis, 46, who sells handmade leather sandals, said the few tourists who appear aren’t buying much. “Greeks used to spend a lot, but they don’t anymore,” he said, sitting in the entrance of his empty shop.

Services are off too. On the island, there are few cars, so people get around mostly on rented mopeds and use small red-and-white boats as water taxis to nearby beaches or the mainland. When banks closed on June 29, those businesses began to dry up.

Water taxi owner Panagiotis Markou, 51, said he used to get about 10 fares a day at 20 euros each; now he’s lucky if he gets four. Demetrios Malamos, the owner of Nautilus Moto, said he has seen a 30 to 40 percent drop in rentals. “This used to be an island for VIPs. The Greek elite would vacation here. Even the middle class Greeks who vacationed here spent money,” he said, pointing to the line of at least a dozen unused motorbikes outside the shop. “Those days are gone.”

The elites still come, their yachts lined up in the old harbor, but in smaller numbers. Last Saturday at least a dozen yachts and sailboats bobbed in the water while prominent Greeks, including Athens Mayor Giorgios Kaminis, gathered at Tarsanas, an outdoor seafood tavern. Even these Spetsiotes, as they are known, are concerned. Greece’s austerity measures have included rounds of increases in property taxes and luxury taxes. “Life as we’ve known it is over,” said Eleni Georgi-Melissaris, who owns a home there and has been going to the island every summer since she was a child in the 1950s. “I’m worried about what’s coming.”

Some things in Spetses don’t change. Families still sit under yellow and white umbrellas on the white pebble beach at Agioi Anargyroi while swimmers splash in the crystalline waters. “Looking at this, you’d never know what has happened these last few weeks,” said Tassos Kiritsis, 37, who works for a German electronics retailer in Athens. 

Yiorgos Kastriotis, 36, of the family-owned Armata Boutique Hotel, hopes that’s the image foreigners see. This summer they accounted for about 40 percent of the hotel’s guests, compared with 10 percent in previous years. With Greece negotiating a third bailout package with European lenders and facing more austerity measures, another round of belt tightening is likely.

He said he has had several inquiries about the situation from worried vacationers, but he tries to reassure them that, for tourists, all is well. “Everybody thinks we’re walking around with a balls and chains,” he said. “It isn’t like that.”