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Post by yorkshiremouth on Oct 8, 2021 8:57:48 GMT
Unfortunate, and entirely avoidable.
Today’s rain aside, the weather has been smashing. The season is on. It’s on until today.
None of the brochures, or online sites have a warning saying “Facilities will be limited in the last week.”
And yet, our hotel promised 4 restaurants, only 2 of which were opened during the entire last week. For the 2nd half of the last week, the beach bar was closed, and the pool bar limited.
The buses stop running from town at 10:00pm. Some of the tavernas closed last weekend, some during the week. The ones remaining open are in town, meaning the bus service is all the more important.
The bars and tavernas close because the accommodation is closed. The accommodation closes because there’s nothing for guests to do, as the bars and tavernas are closed, and the beaches empty of sun beds, and the excursions have stopped.
People can’t book holidays which aren’t there. People won’t book for the last week if they know it’s ‘shutting down week’.
It’s a viscous circle, and someone needs to break it.
I don’t think any casual traveller would avoid October in Skiathos if the holidays were there. There are plenty of places which remain open after the warmest guaranteed weather has gone. The custom (and the money) is there, if only the powers that be would get themselves organised.
By the way, I’ve been here for this week two years ago, so I knew what to expect. That doesn’t stop the annoyance and frustration.
I’m now almost certainly coming as a lone traveller again next year. I’ll be coming a week or two earlier so there’s more on. I’m sure there’ll be others if a similar mind. This just damages the economic viability of the last week if the season. More places will close a week earlier, meaning more people visiting that week will have a poor experience.
The inevitable result is the last week going back a week, during which time places will close half way through, and the whole circle starts again.
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Post by cariad23 on Oct 9, 2021 7:11:34 GMT
sounds awful i think tui finishing the season early triggered an earlier than usual shut down. ive been to a few places early sept crete levos kefalonia and there was no holiday atmosphere and shops already closing. i remember when english resorts closed down at the end of august and very dismal they were too. The only place busy end of september was madeira which is very mild all winter months and has a big older clientel in the winter months. Weve always stayed in town because we like the evening atmosphere and not having to rely on buses, last time we tried Kolios and felt cut off. Im wondering if we will like troulos next year but there was very little in choice in town when we transferred this years holiday and what there was very expensive. When this pandemic rubbish is over we will o back to booking flight and accommodation seperate , far more choice and better quality
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Post by dennisn on Oct 9, 2021 10:03:39 GMT
It seems to me "the facilities" are between the devil and the deep blue sea. Promised 4 restaurants? How many of those would you have visited during the week? What about the restaurants which you wouldn't have visited?
None of this is actually YOU, of course. It's not me, it's not Cariad, it's not anybody else. What I'm getting at is there wouldn't have been enough customers to keep 4 restaurants (or however many closed) busy enough to justify staying open. I remember a few years ago visiting a taverna/restaurant at the end of the world, so to speak, in Skiathos (Kalivi), in September. All we wanted was an ice cream and they didn't have one that we wanted and in the end we finished up with just an orange juice - they explained they were closing on Saturday and couldn't commit to re-stocking and wasting whatever they bought. It's the chicken and egg situation - no flights means no bookings. No bookings means no flights. TUI, Jet2, etc work on a performance basis I presume. If they think there'll be bookings, they'll offer them. But at this time of year, how many people want to risk the weather in Skiathos? Actually, lots of us, but not in commercial numbers - My £1500 doesn't give TUI much incentive, a thousand of us doesn't give them much incentive, they need thousands of us to make it worth their while. It's taken me more than half an hour to dredeg the phrase from my ailing memory - Catch 22.
And now on a cheerful note, let us all congratulate YM's predictive text for recognising that many of his posts include lovely reviews of wine and beer and therefore predicts his writing of vicious as viscous. Love it!!!
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Post by katet on Oct 9, 2021 11:10:45 GMT
"And now on a cheerful note, let us all congratulate YM's predictive text for recognising that many of his posts include lovely reviews of wine and beer and therefore predicts his writing of vicious as viscous. Love it!!!"Fabulous! I wrote a comment on viscous/vicious but forgot to post it, Dennis! I'm not familiar enough with the end of season situation of other holiday destinations to draw any conclusions, but I'm guessing there is no easy way forwards ... apart from the holiday companies making the point loudly that those making early/late season bookings may find that there are less facilities open.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Oct 9, 2021 15:48:49 GMT
I have now been banned from the I ❤️ Skiathos FaceBook group for bringing this up.
Such fun!
I don’t get the feeling that there are thousands of Brits happy to go to Skiathos in the 3rd and 4th week in September, but who couldn’t be dragged there by wild horses the 1st week in October.
People regularly ask about the last week at TripAdvisor, and every time they’re told most things will be closed. I don’t think this can help.
A crowd attracts a crowd.
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Post by cariad23 on Oct 9, 2021 16:37:28 GMT
Banned for stating the facts ! not worth writing on then, obviously want people who say 3 months to go cant wait ! or ive sat in idiots chair. Or continually ask same questions
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Post by dennisn on Oct 9, 2021 18:10:53 GMT
Well, I hesitate to criticise I love Skiathos group for poor behaviour because you might think I’m biased after being banned from there before most of you were born. But they really do have a poor record of Moderation. However, I hasten to add, it’s not much worse than or different from FB Boomerangers. It’s not that long ago that Boomerangers were warned that posts doing gloom about Skiathos would be deleted. Personally I don’t see any harm in it BECAUSE I think we do it in order to announce our sadness AND to offer up hope for the future. Just saying.
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Post by katet on Oct 10, 2021 8:06:15 GMT
If you read the ‘About’ info for the group it’s pretty clear that it’s not a discussion group, but has more of a tourism information and promotion role. I like George - and what he’s trying to do for the island - though it does seem a bit drastic to chuck you both out without warning! Personally, these days I try not to give awful reviews about somewhere in public (which FB is) as it could have a devastating effect on a business and it’s sometimes innocent workforce.
I don’t think you would have got deleted, YM, if you had just said how disappointed you were to lose a day and that Skiathos should look to extend its season and fulfil obligations and than left it at that. You would have still had all those responses - but you could have even turned comments off when it got heated, .
There are other groups where a good old discussion/ding dong is positively welcome! (For example, Skiathos Friends which is home to some of the most unfriendly humans I’ve ever encountered!)
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Post by dennisn on Oct 10, 2021 8:24:30 GMT
I have always said that ban or delete is the wrong way to Moderate. You must tell people that “this post is unacceptable “. Moderators can edit posts and insert a big red comment saying so, then other people can see what’s unacceptable, instead of which they delete a thread and/or ban a user and the huge majority of users have no idea what’s happened, far less why.
I have no quarrel with site owners having rules, but banning and deleting doesn’t help users learn the rules.
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Post by katet on Oct 10, 2021 10:41:55 GMT
Very true, Dennis. It would be better to educate than ban/delete. The group has grown hugely in the past couple of months and I’ve noticed the nature of the posts has changed too. I’ve just seen one by George that sounds as if he’s at the end of his tether … having someone contact him at 2am to complain has really upset him. He has laid out the ground rules now, though, so better late than never.
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Post by dennisn on Oct 10, 2021 11:16:21 GMT
Hmm. I don’t know anybody called George and nobody contacts me at 2am except business customers by phone. In his case I would respond to a complainant with an invitation to leave the group rather than complaining to him at 2am! The selfishness of people who expect action at 2am will never cease to amaze me.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Oct 10, 2021 15:11:15 GMT
I didn't receive any notice, any warning, nothing.
I've not previously received any notice or warning.
I wasn't told the post had been removed, let alone why.
I wasn't told I was banned, I just can't access it any more.
I messaged George - no reply.
Quite apart from anything else, that's just rude.
There are worse things I could have done, as George well knows.
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Post by dennisn on Oct 10, 2021 16:27:09 GMT
That is precisely my point.
Except you missed another - that nobody else knows either.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Oct 11, 2021 7:53:53 GMT
Yes, I suspect many of the members there won’t notice.
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Post by dennisn on Oct 11, 2021 10:32:48 GMT
Yes, I suspect many of the members there won’t notice. The thing about it is not only may they not notice, but most importantly, they have not learned what is not allowed. That's less than how to treat naughty children.
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