BERLIN: Fewer Germans are planning trips to Greece as the Mediterranean country holds emergency negotiations to avoid a financial collapse.
Travel bookings to Greece from Germany plunged 39 percent in the week through July 5 from a year ago, according to Amadeus IT Holding SA, a Madrid-based company that processes flight reservations for airlines. In the week through June 28, they fell 25 percent, the company said. The DPA news service reported the statistics earlier, and Amadeus confirmed them.
The slump means Greece is missing out on much-needed tourism revenue from its single largest source market because some Germans no longer feel welcome in the country or want to avoid the risk of having their summer vacation spoiled by economic turmoil. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has become a hated figure for some Greeks who blame her for aggravating the country’s economic situation by pushing for austerity measures.
TUI AG, Europe’s largest tour operator, said bookings to Greece in the past two weeks declined by a single-digit percentage. Year to date, the number of trips to the country were still slightly higher than last year, the Hanover, Germany-based company said.
