The Guardian reports (or advertises?) that the Greek government plans to sell off state-owned land in some well-known resort islands such as Mykonos, and even entire islands, under pressure from the IMF and the EU.

It is indeed tragic that our - nominally socialist - government, is enthusiastically (rather than under pressure) following thatcherite, neoliberal policies, which, along with disposing public utilities, facilities (ports, airports, trains, postal services) and public lands, include the dismantling of the social welfare state, the creation of a 'flexible' labour market and more.

Otherwise the - usually quiet - sale of small islands is nothing new, some have been in private hands for generations, claimed (arbitrarily) by the descendants of sheperds, monks, fishermen, seamen etc. There are also some who have been bought and resold and are in the hands of Greek shipowners (famously Skorpios, Petalioi, Spetsopoula).

The newspapers are of course trying to create provocative headlines - "Greek islands for sale", this time of the year, every year, snapped up by billionaires, singers etc. They are in fact advertising - the specific website that sells island properties - rather than criticising.

Few of the perhaps 10,000 smaller islands and islets are suitable for habitation (and indeed for any type of tourism development), as they are barren and lack water. Foreign (and greek shipowners) investor interest is increasing as real estate prices are falling, but one would think it is for speculative reasons - to sell them back once prices have risen again in 5-10 years. The tax regime is becoming stricter however, with offshore companies being taxed more so as to create disincentives for tax evading investors - that is the government's theory at least.

Otherwise, in terms of the results (and perhaps the motives) of mega resort coastal tourism development there is no discernible difference between 'unscrupulous' 'Russian' billionaires, 'reckless' 'Chinese' state companies and 'corporately socially responsible' 'British' and 'German' tourism capital. Perhaps it is the possibility that interests incompatible with the old (?) Yalta division of the world may gain a foothold in these parts, that is annoying some and creating such articles.

Beyond mega-resorts (all inclusive golf & villa developments), smaller, cheaper holiday homes developments catering for European pensioners are equally destructive.

Some more points about the current state of Greek Tourism:

Along with the rest of the economy, Greek tourism is increasingly being controlled by foreign (including EU-based) multinationals, such as large tour operators, airlines and hotel chains, steadily eroding its independent, locally-owned / family-owned nature.

Working conditions (low pay, no insurance, long hours, inappropriate housing for hotel workers) in large hotels was already bad before the current crisis, and are now expected to deteriorate with so called 'trainee' students from Greece and other EU countries being increasingly used as cheaper, and less militant, labour. Greek Tourism also increasingly depends, directly and indirectly, on a large number of poorly paid, migrant workers from the global south (from construction, to gardening, to cleaning).

In relation to domestic tourism, social tourism programs were severely cut this year, and will probably be cut further in 2011.

At the same time, large tourism employers are pushing the government, as if it needed any pushing, for more, discredited neoliberal measures, such as removing all obstacles to the operation of low-cost, foreign cruise liners (Cabotage), destroying the (rudimentary) regional public bus (KTEL) network as a 'monopoly' which blocks private bus operators,
selling (instead of expanding and modernising) the public train network (OSE), lowering taxes on hotels, and at the same time spending more and more on promotion through corporate media, mass tourism fairs and expensive, but rather tacky promotional initiatives (a recent one creating a 'greek beach' on the river Thames with hundreds of tons of sand).

Anxious to meet targets, the current government is facilitating the development of wind parks and solar farms (and the deregulation of the energy market) in a rather unplanned fashion, which may create conflicts with tourism uses and protected areas.

The expansion of the cruise sector and all-inclusive resorts is not in the best interests of local communities who stand to gain little. Mushrooming Holiday homes developments are equally destructive.

Climate change, lack of proper waste management, beach erosion, forest fires, coastal overbuilding, sea pollution, also affect and are affected by Greek tourism development.

EU and State subsidies in the Greek tourism sector have in many cases contributed to waste of funds and corruption. They have also led to an erroneous perception to farmers and small entrepreneurs, that tourism is a soft and easy way to make money.

The mix is explosive, and the growing social unrest, if it reaches the holiday resorts, along with increasing inflation, may turn away many tourists already affected by the economic crisis in their own countries.

The crisis has a silver lining, as it may help prove mega-projects as too risky (for usually offshore and rather opaque capital) once and for all, and also prove the resilience of municipal and cooperatively-owned tourism businesses. Therefore, any future funding
and subsidies should be (transparently) allocated to the latter, and certainly not to the former.

To all the above, we can add the abolishment of the Tourism Ministry (subsumed into the Ministry of Culture) in Autumn 2009, and the inexperienced handling of tourism issues by the current Culture Minister such as his recent pledge to cover the costs of foreign tourists which happen to be stranded in Greece due to strikes.

Whereas consecutive greek governments (infatuated with subsidising 5 star, luxury tourism projects), may tout Tourism as 'Greece's Heavy Industry' and currently as a panacea for economic ills, the truth may be that it has already reached its limits - it has become a near monoculture in many coastal and island regions, and any further expansion (in terms of infrastructure and of the length of the holiday season) will be an economic and environmental disaster.

Last, but not least, one can mention the role of the large tourism capital in funding (and hosting) the two major parties, at the central and local level, as well as their sponsoring of large environmental NGOs so as to avoid too many problems with conservationists
and maintain a green image.