Corfu tourist coach owners to take legal action because of the closure of Eth. Lefkimmis Rd
coach owners
09 Sep 2018
/ 06:47
CORFU. The Corfu Tourist Coach Owners΄ Association will be taking legal action regarding the closure of the road at Benitses on Wednesday night by police because of the Lefkimmi residents΄ demonstration.
Statement from the Association
On Wednesday 5 September we witnessed an unprecedented and unacceptable situation which yet again affected tourists and local businesses and damaged our tourist industry. On the above date at 19:45 the Lefkimmi-Corfu Rd was closed at the San Stefano Hotel resulting in hundreds of drivers and passengers being unjustifiably and unacceptably blocked off for 3 hours. Nearly all of the passengers that we, the professional drivers, were transferring were tourists and due to being 'trapped' on the Lefkimi-Corfu Rd they had to suffer a tremendous ordeal which for most of them was financial.
A large number of customers that we were transferring in the tourist coaches missed their flights as they weren't able to reach the airport on time. We had to witness the tragic sight of tourists going on foot with their luggage in an effort to make their flight.
Some of the 'trapped' passengers also had health problems and needed to be able to take their medication, others had young children who were forced to sit for three hours in the buses without water or food. All of the passengers suffered an incredible ordeal and those on excursions missed their whole day.
This all took place at the peak of the tourist season with the local authorities (municipal and regional) notable by their absence. The tourist season has already been damaged by the situation with the refuse - leading to financial losses for local businesses.
It is certain that all these customers will demand financial compensation from the travel agents and coach owners for the damages they suffered and we would like to ask all the relevant authorities the following:
Who is going to compensate these people for what they suffered?
Who is going to repair our image, which was damaged by the unprofessional way in which we were forced to treat our customers due to being illegally blocked on the road for three hours?
Who is going to compensate these drivers and coach owners who, due to the aforementioned situation, were unable to carry out the programme for which they had been hired?
Who is going to compensate us for the financial loss and lost profits? From the following day - 6 September - there were large numbers of cancellations due to our not fulfilling our customers' programme, even though it was out of our hands.
FOR ALL THE ABOVE-MENTIONED REASONS
We condemn the negligence of all those involved in these incidents as well as those who took no action.
We condemn yet again the lack of organization and information at the peak of the tourist season.
We condemn all those responsible for the tragic situation in which local businesses find themselves due to the inability of the political leadership to take tourist services seriously.
We demand:
Our constitutional right to operate freely and not have these rights limited without good reason.
We declare:
As a professional body we will use all available legal means to protect our members' interest and our customers' rights and will seek recourse with all responsible courts and authorities to protect our legal rights.
Nikos Tsagaris
Presidet
On Wednesday 5 September we witnessed an unprecedented and unacceptable situation which yet again affected tourists and local businesses and damaged our tourist industry. On the above date at 19:45 the Lefkimmi-Corfu Rd was closed at the San Stefano Hotel resulting in hundreds of drivers and passengers being unjustifiably and unacceptably blocked off for 3 hours. Nearly all of the passengers that we, the professional drivers, were transferring were tourists and due to being 'trapped' on the Lefkimi-Corfu Rd they had to suffer a tremendous ordeal which for most of them was financial.
A large number of customers that we were transferring in the tourist coaches missed their flights as they weren't able to reach the airport on time. We had to witness the tragic sight of tourists going on foot with their luggage in an effort to make their flight.
Some of the 'trapped' passengers also had health problems and needed to be able to take their medication, others had young children who were forced to sit for three hours in the buses without water or food. All of the passengers suffered an incredible ordeal and those on excursions missed their whole day.
This all took place at the peak of the tourist season with the local authorities (municipal and regional) notable by their absence. The tourist season has already been damaged by the situation with the refuse - leading to financial losses for local businesses.
It is certain that all these customers will demand financial compensation from the travel agents and coach owners for the damages they suffered and we would like to ask all the relevant authorities the following:
Who is going to compensate these people for what they suffered?
Who is going to repair our image, which was damaged by the unprofessional way in which we were forced to treat our customers due to being illegally blocked on the road for three hours?
Who is going to compensate these drivers and coach owners who, due to the aforementioned situation, were unable to carry out the programme for which they had been hired?
Who is going to compensate us for the financial loss and lost profits? From the following day - 6 September - there were large numbers of cancellations due to our not fulfilling our customers' programme, even though it was out of our hands.
FOR ALL THE ABOVE-MENTIONED REASONS
We condemn the negligence of all those involved in these incidents as well as those who took no action.
We condemn yet again the lack of organization and information at the peak of the tourist season.
We condemn all those responsible for the tragic situation in which local businesses find themselves due to the inability of the political leadership to take tourist services seriously.
We demand:
Our constitutional right to operate freely and not have these rights limited without good reason.
We declare:
As a professional body we will use all available legal means to protect our members' interest and our customers' rights and will seek recourse with all responsible courts and authorities to protect our legal rights.
Nikos Tsagaris
Presidet
