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Tourism Union Strikes: Greece Travel Disrupted Further

Locations in this article:  Athens, Greece

Athens Acropolis - Tourism Workers Join StrikesTourism workers in Greece announced on Friday that they are staging a 24-hour strike on the last day of the month and a four-hour strike on June 16.

The Panhellenic Federation of Catering and Tourist Industry Employees (POEEYTE), which represents the workers, said they were stepping in line with their fellow Greeks in opposition to recent austerity measures passed by the Greek government.

This the first time the usually-conservative POEEYTE has planned a strike in recent memory, as the union has been very reluctant to engage in industrial action in the past.

The tourism worker strike announcement is just one of several blows Greek unions have dealt to the country’s vital tourism industry this week. On Monday, striking dock workers disrupted cruise ship arrivals and departures during staged protests on Athenian docks.

Strike! Tourism Workers Join Greek StrikeThe 24-hour dock worker strike was in protest to the Greek government’s decision to remove restrictions on vessels docking with foreign tourists.

The strike stranded hundreds of tourists at Greek ports.

Two days later, striking fisherman temporarily barricaded Greek ports also upsetting cruise ship and ferry operations.

The disruptions have caused at least on foreign cruise line to sail away from Greece. A British cruise operator, Thomson Cruises, has announced that it will be canceling its Greek cruises for the summer.

Previously:  Athens Protests: Strikes Continue Amid Travel Warnings

Lonely boat in Santorini, GreeceAs one of the world’s top 20 holiday destinations, Greece has a lot to lose from these tourism disruptions. Every year, 13 million tourists travel to Greece, and the money they bring in accounts for around 15 percent of the country’s GDP.

One in about five jobs in Greece is tied to tourism as well.

Months of negative press following last month’s riots in Athens have put a serious dent in 2010 tourism figures. Analysts say that say tourism income will shrink by around 10 percent this year, as foreign tourists sail to alternate ports.

By Adriana Padilla at PeterGreenberg.com.

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