Los Angeles Times
February 5, 2012
Question: What is the anticipated effect of the financial problems in Greece on tourists this summer?
Mick Lowry
Los Angeles
Answer: That's not an easy question to answer, because negotiations over Greece's financial fate continued last week, and the outcome will determine how uncomfortable — or not — life there will be.
What has happened to Greece is a bit like what happens to many of us: It borrowed too much money. But here's the infuriating part: When a new government took power in late 2009, it was discovered that there had been some creative accounting, which made the financial situation look much better than it actually was. Whether you're doing this with a country or with your spouse, it's a bad idea. Although a little spousal deception generally won't destroy your union, when a country like Greece does it, it does jeopardize a different kind of union — the European Union, of which there are 27 members and of which Greece has been a part since 1981. The agglomeration was supposed to make a strong whole.
Greece has played a big role in destabilizing the union. It has tried to cut its debt by imposing austerity measures, which have led to public outrage. In May 2010, protests resulted in riots in which three people were killed, and in October, riots over two days, in which 100,000 people protested financial austerity measures, turned violent, injuring about 80 people.
The situation in Greece is an unhappy one. But Greece needs tourist dollars now more than ever to find its way out from under lest it default on its loans. Tourism is one of its leading industries, and that means you are apt to find bargains.
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