Tourism professionals ready to ΄freak out΄

They had decided at a meeting at Corfu Chamber of Commerce on Saturday morning to visit the Mayor regarding the situation with the rubbish. The Chamber called the meeting, at which the Hoteliers Association, the Federation of Tourist Accommodation Owners, the Association of Corfu Travel Agents (AOCTA), the Association of Restaurateurs and Related Professions, the Trade Association, the Medical Association and others were present.

Corfu Mayor and Deputy Prime Minister Alekos Flambouraris

Nobody came out of the meeting with the Mayor any the wiser as the problems with Temploni and Lefkimmi have been discussed countless times. The only new information was that the Mayor will meet with the Deputy Prime Minister Alekos Flambouraris in Athens today to discuss the matter.

The President of the Corfu Federation of Tourist Accommodation Owners Pericles Katsaros told Enimerosi of tourism professionals' despair and fear for the future of their businesses. "Enough is enough. This situation must come to an end. A lot has been said about this in the international media. Businesses have so many financial obligations - how will they cope if tour operators hold back money to compensate customers?"

International embarrassment

Last weekend things started 'buzzing' internationally. International media started to publish reports about the rubbish in Corfu.  It was to be expected that once the first tourists started arriving Corfu would be the subject of negative comments as sooner or later the images would be published worldwide by the media. There have already been a large number of negative comments about the situation from foreign visitors and residents on the English language Page of enimerosi.com.