Dutch experiment with 200 tourists who will spend their holidays on a Greek island Everything you want to ask, read or write about Sfakia, southwest Crete, or Crete island in general.

[Erno]

Dutch experiment with 200 tourists who will spend their holidays on a Greek island - 27 March, 2021

A Dutch travel agency plans to bring 200 people on an 8-day getaway to Greece [Rhodes], to see if tourism will be possible in the coronavirus pandemic.

Those selected will spend their holidays in an all-inclusive hotel at a cost of just 399 euros per person, but there are some conditions.

Dutch tourists will not be able to leave the resort, while when returning to their country they will spend 10 days in quarantine.

Even so, at least 25,000 people have expressed interest in the travel experiment, which is officially supported by the Dutch government.

The official Dutch travel directive continues to advise against traveling abroad until at least mid-May.

The experiment will somewhat clarify the landscape for this year's tourism and how exactly it affects the course of the pandemic.

The travel provider Sunweb has 187 tickets for people aged 18-70 and the selection will be made according to criteria set by the Dutch state.

Tourists will be able to use the hotel's swimming pools and restaurants, but not leave the premises.

From: https://flashnews.gr/post/456049/to-oll ... hniko-nhsi

[kiki]

If people want to travel this way (allinclusive, staying only in the Hotel ) , they dont need to go to Greece!!!
Its interchangeable if going to Spain, Italy, Gran Canaria or elsewhere in an ALLinclusive Hotel , it will be always the same.

[deadeggs]

Why the 70 year old age limit?
I'm 71 years old. Bad luck for me.

[Erno]

This is a travel experiment in Covid-times, to see if and how tourism can be organised without extra infections.

That is the reason why everyone has to stay at and inside their resort. It is also the reason why the risks are limited, and people under 18 and above 70 cannot participate.

[Micki]

Well, I don’t understand the sense of this ‘experiment’. 200 tourists are flown from The Netherlands to Rhodes into a resource where they will virtually stay in quarantine. If the hotel in Rhodes is clever enough to make sure that none of their staff will be infected nobody will contract the virus. This scenario doesn’t provide any valuable information.

In general, there are certainly a number of tourists who are prepared to stay in their resort – but they could travel anywhere. But I cannot imagine travelers going to Sfakia and then would not be allowed to leave their hotel, for example. To me this ‘experiment’ looks like PR for all inclusive tourism – hardly anything more.

[mike]

Some clarification, perhaps?

From my understanding of the reports in the Dutch press, the point of the experiment is aimed precisely at the package holiday sector. In the same way that the cruise holiday sector is thinking about vaccine 'passports' other, potentially more manageable tourism sectors, are trying to find ways to open up. In other words, the experiment is not intended to cover all possible ways of taking a holiday.

Consider the degree of public interest: 25,000 volunteers! Sfakia-lovers and such types are in the minority when it comes to tourism (thankfully). If anyone has had a chat with such people then you'll understand that, indeed, the country they visit is almost irrelevant to them. They want 1-3 weeks' worth of doing nothing much in a warm, sunny location. Spain (the costas, Canary islands), Greece (including Crete north coast tourism 'ghettos'), Turkey etc., it doesn't make much difference to them.

On the other hand, there are more than a few all-inclusive resorts that are as big as Sfakia, not just in terms of land cover but also in terms of occupant capacity. Whether or not anyone would feel trapped is a matter of preference and style. I've noticed more than a few people at places such as Loutro or Finix or even Sfakia who are quite content to spend all their time alternating between a small beach, one or more restaurants/cafes, and their hotel room. Even I can manage that for 3-4 days after a longer stretch of hiking. If there is a difference, it's not so much in the activity level, but in my own preference for a small village ambiance (combined with the hiking) rather than a big resort ambiance, and the fact that after several years my own personal routine has become subtly entwined with the lives of people living there.