World Tourism Blog

As Greece recovers from the damage caused by street violence, strikes and a massive blow to its reputation on the international stage, surrounding nations are set to steal its tourists, particularly Croatia.
 
It is said that every cloud has a silver lining and the crisis in Greece is proving that this saying is at least half true. The cloud over Greece looks more violent than ever and is stopping Brits, Germans and Italians from visiting the traditional destination. The silver lining has a Croatian flag on it as the Greek unrests pushes tourists in a northerly direction.

This is not to say that Croatia has nothing to offer without being a substitute for a nearby EU country in crisis. The country boasts a general mixture of green and blue as the Adriatic combines with stunning islands such as Hvar and medieval walled cities like Dubrovnik to create breathtaking landscape.

 If it were not for the “Balkan” reputation, there is no reason to believe why the former Yugoslav country should not be more popular. The government relies on at least 10 million visitors per annum. Then the figures of Croatian tourism are very favourable and account for one sixth of the country’s economy.

With the help of Greek crisis, Croatia has experienced a 7% growth in overnight stays this July. Whether these stays are in expensive hotels or tents, it still shows an element of progress. This means every 50th tourist in Europe visited Croatia in July. In Greece, the number of tourists remains almost the same yet spending is significantly down compared to last year. Indeed, tourists in Greece have been spending at least 7% less than in 2009.

By Tourism-Review

CROATIA TO EARN OUT OF GREEK CRISIS

Greece to Cover Costs of Tourists Stranded Due to Strikes and Natural Disasters

Greece on Monday promised to cover the extra costs of visitors stranded in the debt-ridden country in part of a bid to boost the vital tourism industry.

The pledge would apply to tourists whose visits are prolonged due to strikes, or even natural disasters, said Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos.

“We are guaranteeing to pay any extra room and board any visitor in Greece pays even if stuck here because of a volcano in Iceland,” he said at a press conference announcing a new Internet drive to advertise Greece as a tourist destination.

Greece is caught in a major budget and debt crisis, and avoided bankruptcy last month using the first installment of a (EURO)110 billion ($136.3 billion) European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout package. To secure the rescue loans, the center-left government slashed pensions and civil sector pay, while increasing consumer taxes.

Unions responded with a string of strikes, which canceled flights, ferry and rail services, and halted public transport.

Tourism is a vital source of revenue that accounts for more than 15 percent of gross domestic product, and one in five jobs. Industry experts say they are seeing a drop of about 10-12 percent in bookings this year, following deadly riots that left three dead last month in Athens when a protest against painful austerity measures turned violent.

Tourist arrivals had suffered earlier from the chaos in air transport caused by the explosion of a volcano in Iceland, which spewed vast quantities of ash into the sky for days, blocking air routes.

Geroulanos said the tourism industry seemed to be recovering, although it was too early to make accurate forecasts.

“The numbers are not really as gloomy as they were with the first cancellations,” he said. “Some destinations have suffered greatly due to the crisis, but others are doing better than before.”

By ABCNews

Greece on Monday promised to cover the extra costs of visitors stranded in the debt-ridden country in part of a bid to boost the vital tourism industry.

The cold depths of the Adriatic Sea have yielded yet another bonanza — and it’s not fishing. Scuba divers are now able to plunge into the sea’s clear, astonishingly blue waters and see ancient treasures protected by a giant underwater safe.

An ancient Greek shipwreck containing treasure with an estimated value of about $8 million is accessible to divers just off the coast of the off the coast of the Croatian town of Cavtat. Included in the wreck are hundreds of clay amphoras, the storage jars of antiquity, probably once filled with wine and oil, lie just 96 feet below the water’s surface.

“Although the shipwreck is destroyed, the cargo of the wreck appears to be pristine,” Boris Obradovic, the head of “Epidaurum” Scuba Diving Center, who found the shipwreck in 1999, and now guides experienced scuba divers down to the wreckage, told ABC News.com.

A striking video made by Obradovic and his team shows “a mixture of gray, brown and reddish amphoras much like they were placed shortly after the ship settled into the ooze.” Some amphoras are encrusted with purplish sponges, others with algae and feathery hydroids.

After studying the videos with nautical archaeologists, Marijan Orlic, an underwater archaeologist and retired director of operations for Croatian Conservation Department, tentatively identified the jars as typical of the African origin, near modern day Tunis, around the third century AD.

A steel mesh cage the size of a volleyball field shields the wreck, which is about 67 feet long and 35 feet wide. At least 700 amphoras are visible above the seabed.

“It’s an incredible find,” Orlic said in an interview from Zagreb. ”It’s the biggest shipwreck we ever found. We were very excited, but had to protect it from the looters, so we chose to physically protect it with a metal cage.”

By DRAGANA JOVANOVIC

The cold depths of the Adriatic Sea have yielded yet another bonanza -- and it?s not fishing. Now, scuba divers will be able to plunge into the clear, astonishingly blue water of the Adriatic Sea, heading straight to the bottom -- and back a bit less than two millenniums ? to see ancient treasures protected by the giant underwater safe.

Acropolis in Athens

 
National Archaeological Museum
Athens itself contains so many sites to visit so do not think of hopping into a bus out of Athens yet if what you’ve visited is only the Acropolis. The National Archaeological Museum should be on top of your list if you’re intending to visit any museum in Greece. The biggest museum in the country, it houses some 20,000 exhibits that were excavated in archaeological sites all over Greece. The structure of the museum itself is already worth the visit – the neoclassical building erected towards the end of the nineteenth century is impressive.

Olympia
The ancient ruins at Olympia are probably the most popular tourist attraction in Greece. This is due to the fact that Olympia is the birthplace of the Olympics. Starting in 776 B.C., athletic competitions were organized every four years in honor of Zeus. It is of no wonder, therefore, that the Temple of Zeus is situated here. Before its destruction, it housed a magnificent gold and ivory statue of Zeus. Another popular temple found in Olympia is that of Hera, Zeus’ wife, where the table that contains garlands for the games’ victors once stood. Other structures related to the Olympics are the Stadium and Hippodrome, the setting of the ancient games; the Prytaneion, where the original Olympic flame once burned; and the Gymansium, where athletes train for a month before the competition. More about Olympia.

The Monasteries at Meteora
In Meteora, twenty-four monasteries were originally perched above sky-high rocks, although only six remain today. The landscape is truly amazing. The monasteries are built on top of the natural pinnacles, apparently with great difficulty. Despite that, the monks persisted to build the structures starting on the 15th century. This is one of the must-see sights in Greece if you have time to visit areas outside of Athens.

Cretan Gorges
If you wish to get away from tourist buses and want to commune with nature while hiking, you may opt to visit several fascinating gorges in Crete. The Samaria Gorge in western Crete ranks among the top attractions in Greece. It’s the longest gorge in Europe, an 18-km stretch of exceptional and unspoiled. Although Samaria is the most significant gorge in Crete, there are also other important gorges such as the Imbros, Aradena and Tipoliano.

The history of Greece traditionally encompasses the study of the Greek people, the areas they ruled historically, and the territory now composing the modern state of Greece.

The scope of Greek habitation and rule has varied significantly through the ages, and as a consequence, the history of Greece is similarly elastic in what it includes. Each era has its own related sphere of interest.

The first (proto-) Greek-speaking tribes are generally thought to have arrived in the Greek mainland between the late 3rd and the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, where various pre-Greek people had already been practicing agriculture since the 7th millennium BC.

At its geographical peak, Greek civilization spread from Greece to Egypt and to the Hindu Kush mountains in Pakistan. Since then, Greek minorities have remained in former Greek territories (e.g., Turkey, Italy, and Libya, Levant, etc.), and Greek emigrants have assimilated into differing societies across the globe (e.g., North America, Australia, Northern Europe, South Africa etc.). Still today, most Greeks live in the modern states of Greece (independent since 1821) and Cyprus. National Hard Money Association