Greek prime minister seeks debt-deal support on European tour

Global Business

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras continued his European tour throughout Brussels and Paris to leverage support for a renegotiation of Greece’s bailout deal. CCTV’s Sandra Gathmann reported this story from Brussels.

So far Greece’s freshly elected anti-austerity government have soften their demands for a write-off of half of Greece’s debt, but continue to ask creditors for relaxed austerity measures, some debt forgiveness, and more time for debt repayment to undo economic and social damage he said has accompanied Greece’s efforts to remain in the Eurozone.

Greek prime minister seeks debt-deal support on European tour

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras continued his European tour throughout Brussels and Paris to leverage support for a renegotiation of Greece’s bailout deal. CCTV’s Sandra Gathmann reported this story from Brussels.

Extending a hand, European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker met with Tsipras in Brussels, a key stop in his tour of European capitals aimed to renegotiate the terms of Greece’s bailout deal with its euro partners.

“Our goal is to respect the people’s sovereignty in Greece and the clear mandate of our people. At the same time we respect the rules of the European Union. We want to re-correct this framework, not to smash this framework, and we believe that in this framework we could find a common viable solution for our peoples, for our common perspective,” Tsipras said. “I am very optimistic that these discussions that were in a good way – of course we don’t have already an agreement – but we are in a good direction to find a viable agreement.”

However big international creditors including Germany and the European Central Bank are against any changes that will burden taxpayers

Still, experts said there could be some wiggle room for a final deal before Greece’s bailout expires in March.

“I think they are ready to consider Greece’s demands namely Greece would [like] to have a smaller budget surplus to help the economy and support the poor people in the country, and I think they would also be ready to renegotiate some of the structure al reform commitments, and would also be happy to renegotiate the terms of current loans to Greece, for example, longer maturities or lower interest rates which would benefit Greece without causing extra costs for France, Italy, and other Eurozone partners,” economist Zsolt Darvas of the Bruegel think tank said.

On his next stop in Paris, Tsipras sought support from French President Francois Hollande, who’s expressed a willingness to be the one to bridge the two sides.

France itself has demanded the EU relax its deficit targets, given its economy has also struggled to see growth.


All-inclusive resorts harm growth in local Greek economy, critics say

All inclusive holidays are popular with families on a budget, however they can also spell disaster for local restaurants and shops. CCTV’s Eirini Zarkadoula reported this story from Athens, Greece.

“The right tour operator wants to show their country to the tourists. When somebody comes to Greece, I believe we should not show only sea and sun, and leave them in a hotel. We want as businessmen and as Greeks to show that Greece has lots of beauties,” Signature Travel owner Maria Alifanti said.

Greece’s new elected left wing government said that contracts with large resort chains will be reviewed since all-inclusive deals alienate tourists from the local economy.

All-inclusive resorts harm growth in local Greek economy, critics say

All inclusive holidays are popular with families on a budget, however they can also spell disaster for local restaurants and shops. CCTV’s Eirini Zarkadoula reported this story from Athens, Greece.

“All inclusive trips is a problem for the whole world, not only Greece,” tourism reporter Roula Konstantopoulou said.

Tourism plummeted in the depths of financial crisis but rebounded by 20 percent last year with a record 21.5 million arrivals. However, with growing popularity of all-inclusive resorts, many have abandoned the traditional vacation.

Last year, according to research by Travelsupermarket, the online comparison website, more than one in ten British holiday makers chose all-inclusive trips for their main holiday.

Tourism officials claim that it is not possible to stop all-inclusive packages as other countries close to Greece are willing to attract those tourists who are in favor of that vacation.

“All inclusive trips attract clients who would go to another country if we didn’t offer such packages. Turkish officials mentioned that if Greeks don’t want all inclusive trips, [they would be] willing to welcome these tourists in Turkey,” Giorgos Tsakiris, president of Hellenic Chamber of Hotels said.