‘NYT’, ‘Conde Nast Traveler’, ‘USA Today’ Show Faith in Greece, Advise Vacationers to Keep Coming

On a local level, Greeks may be facing political turmoil but travel experts across the globe are expressing little concern and advising holidaymakers to make the best out of the situation, which they say is actually to their benefit.

The New York Times, USA Today and Conde Nast Traveler (CNT) are, among other media, advising readers to proceed with their holiday plans to Greece as scheduled, as long as they plan ahead and have plenty of cash on hand to avoid the long queues at ATMs.

Despite the closed banks until Tuesday, the major media are highlighting the “friendly” exchange rate and the even friendlier prices for accommodation.

“Foreign credit cards continue to be used without any problems or limitations even with the banks closed,” TrueGreece travel specialist Christos Stergiou told CNT.

“We recommend maintaining extra cash on reserve in addition to what you would normally expect to spend.”

Mr Stergiou also said that visitors should try to use their credit cards as their main payment method.

“Most service providers should continue accepting credit cards; therefore, cash can be preserved for those that do not.”

World Travel & Tourism Council on Greece

In the meantime, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) President and CEO David Scowsill told USA Today that “Greece is always a very popular destination for Europeans and it’s a good value-for-money destination. If there’s going to be any difficulties, it will come slightly later in this process.”

“For international people going on vacation to Greece, there’s absolutely no difficulty at the moment,” he added.

A couple speaking on CNN described their experience as being “only slightly inconvenienced”.