CHRONIC TOURISM ILLS:
DEADLY DISEASE REACHES
EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS

       
  The first traces started to become noticeable some five or six years ago, but they were largely ignored. It'll never affect us, was the general attitude. Then, year by year, the deadly tourism "virus" spread throughout the area. Now, the disease, called All-Inclusivitis, has reached epidemic proportions in Gouves, Kokkini Hani and Gournes, leaving in its wake decay and devastation – causing a once healthy and vibrant industry to become skeletal by comparison.

That's the picture that was painted by numerous shop and small business owners throughout the Tri-town area, all of which have suffered the effects of the all- inclusive phenomenon that is raging through Crete.

"Take a look around, and you'll see all the empty shops just wasting away," said Eva Kokalis, proprietor of the Kokalis Jewellery Store on Gouves main shopping street. "Some have been empty for years, others change owners every year. I've been here for more than 14 years and the difference is astonishing. We used to have a six-month season, now it's down to July and August, if we're lucky.

Mrs. Kokalis said the tourists are not coming out of their hotels to eat or drink, which means they're not walking around, checking out the local area. "And, when they do shop, the hotel/tour operators send them on guided shopping trips to places like the Saturday market in Iraklion and the old market in Hania. There is no support at all for the local business people. And, in many cases, the local prices are lower than the so-called discount markets."

       
 
       
   "Every year more and more hotels fall under the all-inclusive spell," said a long-time taverna owner in Gouves, who wished to remain anonymous. "It's one thing for the larger, Class A hotels, with hundreds of rooms to offer in-house meals, but now even the small Class C hotels, like the Ederi in Gouves with 46 rooms and the Erato in Gournes with 32 rooms are jumping on the band wagon. I can't take it anymore – I'm trying to sell and get out – but who's going to buy a business in this area?"

Yannis Tsafantakis, owner of the popular Max Boutique, one of the largest shops in Gouves, and a respected businessman for almost 20 years, said the all-inclusive problem affects everyone. "Someone should step in and do something about the situation before it's too late. The only ones benefiting are the hotels themselves.

But are they really?

According to Gabi Parma of Pano Gouves, manager of the Aloi Hotel in Anissaras for 17 years, that's not the case. "It's the tour operators that are pushing it, and the hotel owners are forced to go along, or they're dropped as a destination," she said. "We've been approached several times to go all-inclusive, and we have only 23 rooms. I've refused, and I'll keep on refusing because I firmly believe that it's wrong and that it's destroying tourism on Crete."
       
 
       
   Besides, Ms. Parma added, the hotels get very little compensation from the tour operators, and are forced to compromise the quality of their food and drinks in an attempt to show any profit at all. "There's whole new line of cheap food products being offered by wholesalers specifically designed for the all-inclusive market," she said. "I was offered All-Inclusive Marmalade the other day! Can you imagine what this world is coming to?"

In addition to cheap food at some all-inclusive hotels, there are numerous reports that the use of bombas – cheap or bootleg whiskey in brand-name bottles – is becoming more widespread. A check with staffers at several medical centres in the surrounding area shows an increase in the number of tourists being treated for minor cases of alcohol poisoning.

Mr. D. Blavakis, mayor of the Gouves municipality, is concerned over the problem, but can see the positives as well as the negatives of all-inclusive hotels. "It's a way for hotels to have more clients at prices that more tourists can afford," he said during a recent interview. "The negative, of course, is the competition to the independent store owner. This is the same situation that hit the tourist industry in Spain a few years ago, and now it's flourishing here. I believe it will work itself out. Meanwhile, the local demos has no authority in this matter – we must look to the National Tourism Agency to solve the problem."

The president of the Crete Hoteliers Association, Mr. N. Lambrinos, in an attempt to defend the all-inclusive epidemic, blamed the high prices and shop keepers for the popularity of the program. "It's a chance for tourists to come to Crete with a very economical package," he was quoted recently in the Patris newspaper. "When they venture outside the hotel they are forced to pay 4 euros for a coffee, 6 euros for a beer and 40 euros for dinner in a decent taverna. We have the reputation of being an expensive country and that's the truth."

However, a check of numerous pubs and tavernas in this area shows those prices mentioned by Mr. Lambrinos to be way out of whack. And, most tourists when asked said that prices here are no different than those of their own cities, and consider them to be normal.

While there may be a difference of opinion as to what exactly is causing Crete's "sick" tourism industry, there's one thing that everyone agrees upon: some strong medicine is needed immediately – before it's too late!