Tourists planning a luxury getaway to the Greek isles are being increasingly hesitant to keep their bookings, thanks to both an economic crisis plaguing the nation’s banks and the Greek government’s inability to process thousands of illegal migrants sailing into island ports from Turkey. In order to keep revenue up, companies are offering steep discounts and encouraging tourists not to cancel trips.
The Greek island of Lesbos, typically a popular European vacation destination, has received such a prodigious influx of refugees attempting to enter Europe by crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey that immigration offices on the island are remaining open 24 hours a day to process them, and are still woefully behind on the procedure.
As Greece’s politicians work to agree on a deal with its European creditors that will keep it from default, and the Greek people struggle with newly-imposed capital controls and an increasingly dire economic situation, thousands of migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, and African countries continue to land on Greek shores, pressuring an already crippled economy.