Open-topped tourist buses a blight on the town say coach owners
Coach Owners
24 Apr 2019
/ 09:56
CORFU. The Association of Tourist Coach Owners say that the open-topped buses are degrading the town and leading to its deterioration.
The Association has demanded that "in the public interest" their licences should be revoked.
Statement from the Association of Tourist Coach Owners
Along with the huge issue of the waste the problems with traffic have increased over the last few years with the introduction of dozens of daily tours with large open-topped buses without taking into account how much the town can bear. We would like to state the following regarding this grim situation:
1. The idea of 20 or so open-topped buses driving around the town has come from the minds in Corfu Municipality which, unfortunately, seems to think that our town is comparable to London or Athens. For confirmation we just need to look at Rhodes and other similar areas.
2. They contribute to the deterioration in the quality of life of the locals in recent years and have led to them moving out of their homes. Who can put up with travelling from the Square to Kanoni in 30 or more minutes every day behind a large open-topped bus?
3. They have destroyed the Mourayia area due to the weight of the vehicles.
4. They are cheapening Corfu's image.
5. They are taking money from tax-paying professionals (shop-owners, travel agencies and coach owners, guides, taxi drivers etc.) and putting it in the pockets of the few when taking cruise passengers.
6. They are marginalising areas of town (Mantouki, Spilia, San Rocco etc) which cruise passengers would have visited and boosted if the unsuspecting tourists hadn't been solicited and directed to the open-topped buses which are favourably positioned at the port.
7. They are making our historical town less and less attractive to visitors, especially those who have come for quality tourism.
8. They are reducing the overall income for Corfu as the thousands of customers boarding the buses would have spent much more money to the local economy if they had spent the time wandering through the town.
For all the these serious reasons - and we're talking about the public interest - we request that the licences for open-topped buses in Corfu be immediately revoked as they don't fulfil any need and are damaging and dangerous for our town.
It would also be enough to move them from their pick-up point in the port to their own parking area (there are no regulations saying they should have a pick-up point in the port) to prove that they only survive due to all the advantages and privileges they have been given along with the licences which should never have been granted.
There are many who, either due to ignorance or on purpose, confuse two completely different things - the tourist coaches, which transfer groups of tourists to and from hotels and on excursions, and the new open-topped buses which follow regular urban routes and are damaging to Corfu.
In answer to the question "Why is it only in Corfu that so many things detrimental to the local community are happening?" we, as simple members of the public, think that there are many small but well-organised groups which are well-coordinated in the media, politically and in business who can impose their own terms and their own interests due to the fact that residents are at a psychological low-point due to the economic crisis and local problems.
At these critical times, where black is called white, it is the duty of non-aligned politicians and organisations to help the public and Corfu and take a stance regarding all the critical issues. Only this can make Corfiots active once again and solve the problems and any more that may come in the future.
Our Association, in whatever way it can, will fight to make Corfu a place where the public interest comes first - for the many and not for organised interests - and for tourism that respects the environment and culture and ensures long-term benefits for our island.
Nikolaos Tsagaris - President
Spyridon Tsiriyotis - Secretary
Statement from the Association of Tourist Coach Owners
Along with the huge issue of the waste the problems with traffic have increased over the last few years with the introduction of dozens of daily tours with large open-topped buses without taking into account how much the town can bear. We would like to state the following regarding this grim situation:
1. The idea of 20 or so open-topped buses driving around the town has come from the minds in Corfu Municipality which, unfortunately, seems to think that our town is comparable to London or Athens. For confirmation we just need to look at Rhodes and other similar areas.
2. They contribute to the deterioration in the quality of life of the locals in recent years and have led to them moving out of their homes. Who can put up with travelling from the Square to Kanoni in 30 or more minutes every day behind a large open-topped bus?
3. They have destroyed the Mourayia area due to the weight of the vehicles.
4. They are cheapening Corfu's image.
5. They are taking money from tax-paying professionals (shop-owners, travel agencies and coach owners, guides, taxi drivers etc.) and putting it in the pockets of the few when taking cruise passengers.
6. They are marginalising areas of town (Mantouki, Spilia, San Rocco etc) which cruise passengers would have visited and boosted if the unsuspecting tourists hadn't been solicited and directed to the open-topped buses which are favourably positioned at the port.
7. They are making our historical town less and less attractive to visitors, especially those who have come for quality tourism.
8. They are reducing the overall income for Corfu as the thousands of customers boarding the buses would have spent much more money to the local economy if they had spent the time wandering through the town.
For all the these serious reasons - and we're talking about the public interest - we request that the licences for open-topped buses in Corfu be immediately revoked as they don't fulfil any need and are damaging and dangerous for our town.
It would also be enough to move them from their pick-up point in the port to their own parking area (there are no regulations saying they should have a pick-up point in the port) to prove that they only survive due to all the advantages and privileges they have been given along with the licences which should never have been granted.
There are many who, either due to ignorance or on purpose, confuse two completely different things - the tourist coaches, which transfer groups of tourists to and from hotels and on excursions, and the new open-topped buses which follow regular urban routes and are damaging to Corfu.
In answer to the question "Why is it only in Corfu that so many things detrimental to the local community are happening?" we, as simple members of the public, think that there are many small but well-organised groups which are well-coordinated in the media, politically and in business who can impose their own terms and their own interests due to the fact that residents are at a psychological low-point due to the economic crisis and local problems.
At these critical times, where black is called white, it is the duty of non-aligned politicians and organisations to help the public and Corfu and take a stance regarding all the critical issues. Only this can make Corfiots active once again and solve the problems and any more that may come in the future.
Our Association, in whatever way it can, will fight to make Corfu a place where the public interest comes first - for the many and not for organised interests - and for tourism that respects the environment and culture and ensures long-term benefits for our island.
Nikolaos Tsagaris - President
Spyridon Tsiriyotis - Secretary
