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Post by dennisn on Aug 6, 2015 9:24:03 GMT
As I understood it, the new arrangements in Greece are for VAT to go up noticeably and the islands to lose some sort of exemption. Whatever. Has anybody there seen any results from this? For example, have the bus fares gone up? How do the taverna prices look? Is there any indication that tavernas have all written out new price lists? Have you noticed any differences in supermarket prices? (What's the price of Mavrodaphne?).
Yes, I know I shall find out for myself in 36 days (and counting - down!) - eat yer hearts out!
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Post by dennisn on Aug 6, 2015 9:49:35 GMT
I think I was really wondering how it has affected my Greek friends. For example, where we stay is a Thomson Holidays place. I would assume that the new measures SHOULD mean higher charges for accommodation, but I guess prices are negotiated in advance, so I worry that the owners will be over a barrel, maybe having to pay more in taxes but the Tour Operators refusing to pay an increase. Does the airport have to put up its landing etc fees? Will operators put up holiday/flight prices?
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Post by ekskiathite on Aug 6, 2015 14:27:56 GMT
Hi Dennis Apparently the tax went up during our second week there but I was not aware of any price changes in restaurants we ate in. The prices were just the same. In fact some of the restaurant prices were the same as two/three years ago so you can imagine how much we were getting for our euros. If they did go up that week then our Greek friends are not only keeping prices down but may be absorbing the tax hike themselves. Wherever we went we left very good tips. I know of one beach taverna where all the tips went to the owner and not the waiters. It was a very good taverna and the staff worked very hard so we tipped but discretely direct to waiters. If accommodation is taxed I doubt if there will be any renegotiation with tour operators. However if landing fees go up I would think this would be passed on to tour operators, unless thebill was met by the airport but I think that would be too much to be absorbed. I have to say when you are on the island you would never think there was any financial crisis. In our apartments though some bookings were cancelled but it was mostly Greek people, for obvious reasons but the economy on Skiathos feels quite buoyant, especially in restaurants and bars.
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Post by dennisn on Aug 6, 2015 18:19:21 GMT
I shall find out for myself in 35 days (today no longer counts). One thing did cross my mind and that's bus fares - it would be very simple to put those up in Skiathos, wouldn't it?
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Post by kevb on Aug 7, 2015 9:27:12 GMT
They may ride it out for this season but put up prices for 2016. As Skiathos isn't the cheapest place to get to I think local businesses will have to be careful not to put folks off too much or there could be a reduction in visitor numbers next year. I've seen one or two reports back even from this year mentioning 'It wasn't quite as busy as this time in previous years' type comments. I notice that the Thompson flights from EMA were halved this year (used to be 2 flights on Friday, now only 1) though maybe they just moved it to another UK airport which had more demand, not sure.
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