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Stikes and Travel in Greece

February 4, 2010 on 2:57 pm | In Greece Travel, strikes, strikes and travel, things travelers need to know | Comments Off

Greece has been unusally hard hit by the current economic downturn and the problem is reflecting itself in strikes, border stoppages and other unrest. See this article from the BBC on the current strike.

At present the budget deficit in Greece is over four times higher than Eurozone rules permit. The government of Greece is responding to these measures with an austerity budget that will limit governmental spending, increas the retirement age and add a higher gas tax. It is likely that further measures will be needed to rectify the situation and, if this is the case, the citizens of Greece will likely respond with wide-spread strikes that influence both the public and private sectors.

The 2010 travel season in Greece might be a little rocky. In normal years, strikes in Greece seem to pop-up frequently, although most do not last long. It is possible that this season will be the exception, with more and longer strikes. Farmers have already closed roads to Bulgaria as a show of their unhappiness with the government’s lack of financial subsidies and we suspect other strikes will occur this spring and summer

If you are going to travel to Greece this year, be prepared. If your travel is interrupted by a strike, well, we can’t think of a better place to be stuck for a few extra days. Perhaps the best way to try to avoid the influence of strikes on your next vacation in Greece, is to take a cruise of the Greek Islands and let the cruise line worry about the strikes.