Money is at the root of most of the complaints reported by tourists visiting Crete in 2007. The complaints mainly concern hotel bookings with travel agents and hotels that did not deliver value for money. Due to overbooking at most hotels in Crete last year, many tourists wrote furious letters saying that, although they had booked rooms with all mod cons, they were finally forced to move to worse lodgings.
The second-commonest cause for complaint was failure to keep to the excursion programme, as many excursions included in the price never took place.
At the same time, many tourists complained about the revolting sight of piles of rubbish on the beaches and street corners. Other protests had to do with the insufficient bus routes and ridiculously high taxi prices. Finally, there were not a few complaints about the behaviour of certain taxi drivers and ticket collectors.
The Director of the Greek National Tourist Organisation – Regional Tourist Services of Crete, Mrs Ioanna Stratidaki, told “Nea Kriti” newspaper that although there had been complaints this year, they were far fewer than in previous years.
This, as she said, proves that both tour agents and hotel owners are starting to comply, offering their customers the best possible service. In the hard times that the tourist economy of the island is going through, they are called upon to face serious competition and avoid heavy fines if the complaints are found to be accurate…