Tourism in Apokoronas – What future?
Ο Τουρισμός στον Αποκόρωνα – τι μέλλον;
Readers’ Discussion
Background Document
Letter from the Mayor
World Tourism Day 24th September 2014.
A main fundamental pillar for economic, social and cultural development of our municipality is admittedly tourism.
The tourism industry, both packages and related products have a huge impact on the society of Apokoronas affects absolutely all of our society with a direct and visible impact on the quality of everyday life of every person in Apokoronas.
Given the economic crisis and the suffering which has been created in our country, the clear choice in the industry is to work with increased professionalism, adherence to ethical standards and strict adherence of respect visiting tourists, who by their presence, accommodation and various activities are the first line of production and create the image of tourism development and promotion of our municipality.
The Municipality of Apokoronas has already set up a committee for Tourism Development and Promotion, which with the coordination of the councillor Mr. John Apostolakis, aims to promote and enrich the tourism of our municipality, upgrading of our image, the creation of alternative proposals for tourism to attract the interest and increase the market share with the right design, the necessary planning and required specialized expertise that the market needs.
On the occasion of World Tourism Day, let us begin, then, all together, to create an image of our country, which will be to the advantage of our municipality, to further increase tourism to help make the destination of Apokoronas known all over the world
Regards
Haralampos Koukianakis
Readers’ Discussion
John writes:
“Please feed into this initiative the need to clean road signs of graffiti. It gives such a poor first impression for visitors driving from the airport.
Gives the feel of an inner city with all the connotations of deprivation, personal security, etc. Often the signs are quite unreadable too. As far as we can judge they have never been cleaned, and I'm sure with modern cleaners and solvents, it can be done simply.
Doubtless they would soon be defaced again, so an initiative that involves police attention, education/awareness in schools would make this more all embracing. And municipal experience suggests the best counter is to keep re-cleaning the signs, as quickly as possible.”
Karen and Eric write :
“As always, thank you for your updates. We are part timers in Crete, but visit our home regularly 6 times a year. Last year, we didn't visit during February because we took a package holiday to Turkey with RSD travel. This brings me around to mentioning all year round tourism in Crete. It may be that some local hoteliers would like to look at what RSD offers. The cost of the week’s holiday was very reasonable. The plane was chartered and it was absolutely full. The coaches waiting at the other end to take us to hotels and each day during a coach trip we visited different cultural points of interest and spent most nights in different hotels en route. In February, sun, sand and sea were obviously not the attraction, but places of interest were. Each hotel opened up and gave us a huge welcome and when asked was it viable, the answer came back as a resounding yes. It keeps people in employment, sites were kept open etc., RSD offer these trips from right through the year. We asked why Turkey could do this, but Crete wasn't? as we certainly have enough architectural, historical and cultural sites for visitors to see in Crete. Perhaps you would like to take a look at the website and pass it on to those interested in tourism in Crete. RSD travel http://www.rsd-travel.co.uk/ ”
Chrissy writes:
“After reading the article in Gefyra I would like to respond.
I work, and have worked in tourism in the area for 10 years.
I holidayed in Georgioupolis for many years before moving here and now live in Kalamitsi Alexandrou.
I love Georgioupolis, I worked for 3 years in the resort itself and, after changing jobs to work for a villa company, I always encouraged my villa guests to use the facilities in the village. Beach/shops/bars etc.
However, I have increasingly become reluctant to do this, mainly because of the terrible sewerage smells which have become worse over the years and now seem to be present for the whole season, particularly around the Fereniki complex. Also, when driving on the highway past Mare Monte and Pilot Beach in the evenings the smell is terrible (no prizes for guessing why this should be).
As far as I am aware, many local people know who the culprits are, which hotels/tavernas/bars empty their Vothos into the sea/river and even on the street late at night; but nobody is prepared to do anything about it. I understand that there is a dye that can be put in a toilet which will identify who is sending their over flow to places other than their vothos; so easy to catch the culprits, so why is nobody doing this?
Of course, the other issue is all-inclusive hotels (not sure if the 2 hotels in the article run this service?). This is killing business for tavernas and bars and will be another contributory factor to these establishments being reluctant to pay to have their vothos emptied in the legal manner.
There needs to be a lot more emphasis put on how the resort looks, make it smarter, but not too smart (my guests who returned to Georgioupolis year after year liked that it felt like a 'Greek' resort and not like Benidorm). We all need to realise that the disastrous situation with the square is in no way acceptable in modern day tourism.
We need to up our game considerably. We have a beautiful harbour area that, if dredged, could accommodate small yachts thus bringing more business into the resort and business from people who have money to spend.
These are just a few of my thoughts, having had 6 years experience in the 'upmarket' end of tourism. I know their expectations and I know that Georgioupolis, at the moment, is not meeting them.”
Ο Τουρισμός στον Αποκόρωνα – τι μέλλον;
Readers’ Discussion
Background Document
Letter from the Mayor
World Tourism Day 24th September 2014.
A main fundamental pillar for economic, social and cultural development of our municipality is admittedly tourism.
The tourism industry, both packages and related products have a huge impact on the society of Apokoronas affects absolutely all of our society with a direct and visible impact on the quality of everyday life of every person in Apokoronas.
Given the economic crisis and the suffering which has been created in our country, the clear choice in the industry is to work with increased professionalism, adherence to ethical standards and strict adherence of respect visiting tourists, who by their presence, accommodation and various activities are the first line of production and create the image of tourism development and promotion of our municipality.
The Municipality of Apokoronas has already set up a committee for Tourism Development and Promotion, which with the coordination of the councillor Mr. John Apostolakis, aims to promote and enrich the tourism of our municipality, upgrading of our image, the creation of alternative proposals for tourism to attract the interest and increase the market share with the right design, the necessary planning and required specialized expertise that the market needs.
On the occasion of World Tourism Day, let us begin, then, all together, to create an image of our country, which will be to the advantage of our municipality, to further increase tourism to help make the destination of Apokoronas known all over the world
Regards
Haralampos Koukianakis
Readers’ Discussion
John writes:
“Please feed into this initiative the need to clean road signs of graffiti. It gives such a poor first impression for visitors driving from the airport.
Gives the feel of an inner city with all the connotations of deprivation, personal security, etc. Often the signs are quite unreadable too. As far as we can judge they have never been cleaned, and I'm sure with modern cleaners and solvents, it can be done simply.
Doubtless they would soon be defaced again, so an initiative that involves police attention, education/awareness in schools would make this more all embracing. And municipal experience suggests the best counter is to keep re-cleaning the signs, as quickly as possible.”
Karen and Eric write :
“As always, thank you for your updates. We are part timers in Crete, but visit our home regularly 6 times a year. Last year, we didn't visit during February because we took a package holiday to Turkey with RSD travel. This brings me around to mentioning all year round tourism in Crete. It may be that some local hoteliers would like to look at what RSD offers. The cost of the week’s holiday was very reasonable. The plane was chartered and it was absolutely full. The coaches waiting at the other end to take us to hotels and each day during a coach trip we visited different cultural points of interest and spent most nights in different hotels en route. In February, sun, sand and sea were obviously not the attraction, but places of interest were. Each hotel opened up and gave us a huge welcome and when asked was it viable, the answer came back as a resounding yes. It keeps people in employment, sites were kept open etc., RSD offer these trips from right through the year. We asked why Turkey could do this, but Crete wasn't? as we certainly have enough architectural, historical and cultural sites for visitors to see in Crete. Perhaps you would like to take a look at the website and pass it on to those interested in tourism in Crete. RSD travel http://www.rsd-travel.co.uk/ ”
Chrissy writes:
“After reading the article in Gefyra I would like to respond.
I work, and have worked in tourism in the area for 10 years.
I holidayed in Georgioupolis for many years before moving here and now live in Kalamitsi Alexandrou.
I love Georgioupolis, I worked for 3 years in the resort itself and, after changing jobs to work for a villa company, I always encouraged my villa guests to use the facilities in the village. Beach/shops/bars etc.
However, I have increasingly become reluctant to do this, mainly because of the terrible sewerage smells which have become worse over the years and now seem to be present for the whole season, particularly around the Fereniki complex. Also, when driving on the highway past Mare Monte and Pilot Beach in the evenings the smell is terrible (no prizes for guessing why this should be).
As far as I am aware, many local people know who the culprits are, which hotels/tavernas/bars empty their Vothos into the sea/river and even on the street late at night; but nobody is prepared to do anything about it. I understand that there is a dye that can be put in a toilet which will identify who is sending their over flow to places other than their vothos; so easy to catch the culprits, so why is nobody doing this?
Of course, the other issue is all-inclusive hotels (not sure if the 2 hotels in the article run this service?). This is killing business for tavernas and bars and will be another contributory factor to these establishments being reluctant to pay to have their vothos emptied in the legal manner.
There needs to be a lot more emphasis put on how the resort looks, make it smarter, but not too smart (my guests who returned to Georgioupolis year after year liked that it felt like a 'Greek' resort and not like Benidorm). We all need to realise that the disastrous situation with the square is in no way acceptable in modern day tourism.
We need to up our game considerably. We have a beautiful harbour area that, if dredged, could accommodate small yachts thus bringing more business into the resort and business from people who have money to spend.
These are just a few of my thoughts, having had 6 years experience in the 'upmarket' end of tourism. I know their expectations and I know that Georgioupolis, at the moment, is not meeting them.”