When we suggested taking advantage of Greek labor instability by scooping up cheap Athens hotel deals, that was premised on the idea that protesters would mostly ignore tourists. Certainly we never imagined that they'd actively try to ruin the Greek tourism industry, which powers almost one-fifth of the country's economy. Oops.
Last Wednesday and Thursday 150 protesters shut down the Acropolis, the ancient religious sanctuary-global tourist mega-attraction that rises above Athens. They didn't think they were getting enough money, so they wanted to make sure that tourist-dependent hotels and restaurants didn't get any either (we're paraphrasing, but only a little bit). Keep in mind these were government workers who shut down the site, not the usual hodgepodge of anarchists who normally get the blame for ruining everybody's fun. Government workers from the Culture Ministry no less, who are in charge of bringing tourists into contact with Greek's historical treasures, the Acropolis included.]]>
Remember how yesterday we went looking for all the travel deals that should have been popping up in Florida, because their tourism industry had ostensibly been wrecked by the BP oil spill? And remember how we didn't find any, because that was just something their governor made up? The situation in Athens, a city that's still in shock from the wave of recent deadly riots which rocked Greece, is in an opposite position.
Tourism to the capital really is in free fall, and the hotel deals really are eye-popping. If the world keeps spinning out of control like this, we might have to start making these posts into a regular feature. Anyone for "Disaster Travel: Pricelining Your Way Through A World of Political, Environmental, and Economic Upheaval?"
So if you're willing to take on a little bit of risk, and take out travel insurance, we've thrown together a few quick numbers and put them after the jump. If you start feeling guilty, remember that tourism makes up 17 percent of the Greek economy. They need this.]]>
Last year Helena Paparizou, a Greek-Swedish singer who grew up in Gothenburg, won the first-place prize for Greece.
Eurovision isn't just a music contest. It's also a massively gay cultural event, a friendly tussle of soft patriotisms, and, not infrequently, a prism through which shifts in European cultural politics can be glimpsed. To wit: Armenia is competing this year for the first time, and Georgia is set to compete for the first time in 2007. Both countries are bidding hard to be seen as part of Europe.
More dramatically, the spat that led to the withdrawal of the Serbian and Montenegrin entry is an expression of basic tension within that particular political unit, a tension that will be addressed by a referendum on the future status of Montenegro, to be held the very day after the Eurovision final.
This year, Greece's Anna Vissi (above) leads the betting odds, with Romania's Mihai Traistariu, Sweden's Carola, and Belgium's Kate Ryan not far behind. Finland's Lordi thus far wins the award for the most talked about act, with their theatrical metal entry titled "Hard Rock Hallelujah."
Jaunted will be on the ground, reporting on this most significant of European cultural events in addition to providing the skinny on that post-Olympic, immigrant-fueled, cosmopolitan boomtown also known as Athens.
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