Crisis, what crisis?

As hotel prices in Greece wobble in the wake of disturbances triggered by the eurozone crisis, package tour operators are urging the British Government to stop treating the entire country as a “war zone”.

Derek Moore, chairman of the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO), says: “To suggest Britons could be put at risk if civil unrest in the country worsens is far from reality.”

His comments come after Foreign Secretary William Hague said on the Andrew Marr Show that Britons should register with the nearby British consulate and officials were updating plans to evacuate British citizens on a daily basis in case Greece goes under.

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But Moore says: “Our member firms operating in Greece know the situation well and are unanimously reporting that there is no problem except in two small, highly-contained areas around Syntagma Square in Athens and in Thessaloniki.

“Very few holidaymakers fly into either city. To claim Britons living in Greece or visiting on holiday are likely to need emergency evacuation is ridiculous.”

Tour operators spoke out as a survey claimed that hotel prices on the mainland and islands of Greece this summer are up to 20 per cent below levels set in 2011.

As the latest rescue package to prop up the country’s ailing economy was announced, TripAdvisor said that average price cuts range from 0.1 per cent on Santorini to 20.3 per cent in Corfu. Hotel prices are also significantly lower in Zakynthos, Kos and Athens.

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Most of the nine popular destinations studied saw hotel rates down eight per cent or more, with the exceptions of Mykonos and Santorini, where prices appear to be holding relatively firm.

“While the Greek economy has had a traumatic year, the silver lining for tourism could be an increase in visitors due to lower prices in popular destinations,” says TripAdvisor spokeswoman Emma Shaw. The average nightly hotel rate in Corfu is down from 99 euros in 2011 to barely 79 euros, according to the travel website. In Kos, it is down from 75 euros to 68 euros, in Crete from nearly 86 euros to 79 euros.

Platon Loizou of Jewel in the Crown, which specialise in package holidays to Turkey, says: “Although Greece has particular problems, the fact is that bookings by British holidaymakers are falling in several destinations because of the recession in the UK.

“Trying to sell a holiday in Greece is a disaster right now, with fighting in the street on TV every night. But Turkey also faces a 20 per cent shortfall in bookings at this stage. The problem is that short-haul flights are staying the same or rising in price, because of high oil prices.”