Athens Hoteliers Want A Safer Capital

Along with the side effects of the economic crisis Athenian hotels now must deal with criminal acts against tourists (hotel guests) and employees of certain hotels in the city center, the Athens-Attica Hotels Association recently stressed.

The association called for additional measures for the protection of citizens, tourists and businesses that operate in Athens.
“The problem does not only involve tourism but society and political leadership,” said the new president of the association, Yiannis Retsos.

Mr. Retsos said that the policies to be followed should be the result of a consensus dialogue and should cover all aspects of this “enormous social problem.”

According to the association, the 2009 tourism season has already started at a ‘numb’ pace amid the global economic crisis. Data for the month of April, supplied by GBR Consulting company, showed that hotels in Athens saw reduced occupancy (-15.2 percent), reduced prices (-8.8 percent) and limited income (-22.6 percent).

The association claimed that the mugging of visitors to Athens has been added to a list of problems that include the “uncomfortable” visiting hours for museums and archaeological sites, the lack of decision for the transformation of the Taekwondo stadium in Faliro into a conference center and the dirtiness of many municipalities and beaches of Attica.

According to the association, hotel guests have been robbed and in some cases physically assaulted in specific neighborhoods of Athens.

“We have indicated these locations (by street and area) in detail to each representative of the state and each institution, but to no avail,” the association said in a press release.

The association underlined that Athens should defend the image of ‘a safe city’ that it promotes to international markets particularly after the infamous December 2008 street riots, which were broadcasted on a global level.