‘The Thailand of Europe’: foreigners live holiday dreams in Greece but locals priced out • Studies show one in two Greeks will not go on holiday this year as average salary remains low

>2025 will be remembered as the year Greeks decided to forfeit their annual pilgrimage to the beach. Immortalised by singers and songwriters, poets and cinematographers, the carefree joys of summer have, for many, fallen prey to the harsh reality of making ends meet.

>“Our studies show that one in two Greeks will not go on holiday this year,” says Takis Kalofonos, chief financial adviser at EEKE, the union of working consumers of [Greece](https://www.theguardian.com/world/greece).

>“Whereas 10 years ago people would take 20 or even 30 days off, this summer it’s less than a week. The Cyclades and islands further out are a distant dream for many Greeks. Who can pay €450 on boat tickets, which is what it would cost a family of four with a car, when the average salary is €1,342 a month?”

>The great August retreat – often centred on the religious festival of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary on 15 August – has for many been whittled down to days spent with family or friends in villages on the mainland.

>The European Statistics agency, Eurostat, recently endorsed EEKE’s findings, announcing that 46% of Greeks – 19% higher than the rest of the EU – were unable to afford a one-week holiday last year.

>Paradoxically, it is partly because Greece is such a perfect place for holidays that Greeks are increasingly unable to afford them. The arrival of 36 million travellers last year – nearly four times the resident population – has ensured the Mediterranean country is one of the top 10 go-to places globally. The sector brought an estimated €21.7bn in revenue in 2024, helping Athens reduce its gargantuan public debt load from 180% of GDP, at the height of the nation’s excoriating debt crisis, to 153.6%.

>But while tourism is the engine of the Greek economy, providing at least one in five jobs, success has also resulted in soaring prices. Wages, by contrast, have remained stagnant, outpaced by inflation rates that have far outstripped other EU countries, prompting a steep rise in the cost of living. Those who do manage to put money aside say increasingly they find it cheaper to holiday abroad than within Greece.

>An Alco poll in June revealed rocketing accommodation costs, ferry fares and restaurant prices as the main impediments to travel.

> Ξέρεις κάτι; Η Ελλάδα πεθαίνει. Πεθαίνουμε σα λαός. Κάναμε τον κύκλο μας. Δεν ξέρω πόσες χιλιάδες χρόνια ανάμεσα σε σπασμένες πέτρες και αγάλματα… και πεθαίνουμε… Αλλά αν είναι να πεθάνει η Ελλάδα, να πεθάνει γρήγορα! Γιατί η αγωνία κρατάει πολύ και κάνει πολύ θόρυβο.

Εν τω μεταξύ αυτή η σύγκριση έχει γίνει καραμέλα το τελευταίο διάστημα. Το παράδοξο είναι πως η Ταϊλάνδη σε σχέση με τους γείτονες της (κομμιε Βιετνάμ και λαός, Καμπότζη Βιρμανία εμφυλιοι Φιλιππίνες Ινδονησία φτώχεια κλπ) και αντιθέτως από εμάς τα πάει μια χαρά.