New Alternate Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura, a former fashion model and one of four Cabinet members from the right-wing anti-bailout Independent Greeks (AN.EL) coalition partner, said the government will not try to restrict all-inclusive holiday packages in the country.
Ominous intentions against the practise raised eyebrows in Greece’s all-important tourism sector prior to the election. At the time, however, it wasn’t clear how a European government could move to restrict a strictly private sector practise involving local businesses and foreign holiday-makers.
In putting a “brighter face” on the entire affair, Kountoura merely said that “through the improvement of their quality, spillover benefits of this tourism product for local markets and societies will be increased.”
According to a New York Times article published earlier this month, a repeated theme in SYRIZA’s pre-election statements on the tourism sector was that the left-wing party would pressure hoteliers to reduce all-inclusive holiday offers.
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