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Greece: Tourism vs. Poverty
45' (GER, ENG subs)
Tourism is at an all-time high, yet many locals are still struggling to make ends meet. We introduce you to the staff of industry.
Tourism is booming: rows and rows of vacationers are flocking to Greece! The tourism sector, airlines and hotel chains are profiting tremendously from this boom. But the same can’t be said for the locals. Already victims of pension cuts and other cost-cutting measures, they now have to survive on the extremely low wages of seasonal jobs. The film features those who work in the shadows of tourism – the cooks, the waiters, the maids – bringing the lives of the locals to the screen.
Shortly before the end of the summer season, over 30 million vacationers were in Greece. Since destination spots like Turkey are no longer in demand, Greece has become the new hotspot. However, according to current statistics, one fourths of the Greek population is in severe financial distress. While poverty in the entire EU has undergone a mild recession, the poverty rate in Greece has almost doubled since 2008.
Poverty begins just off the shores of the paradisiacal Islands of Rhodes in places such as Patras and Athens where the cook, the waiters and the hotel staff call home. Nowadays, retirees as well as the young people, who had managed to establish modest but stable finances before the crisis, are starving. While accompanying a member of the private relief organization, "Griechenlandhilfe", we met with the people from Greece’s former middle class. Many of whom no longer have health insurance and are dependent on the medication provided by the relief organization to survive. Tourism boom in Greece: wealth for the industry but poverty for the locals.
Pictures © WDR
Facts
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Original TitleGriechenland - Armut trotz Tourismusboom
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Year2017
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Length45' (GER, ENG subs)
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ResolutionHD
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Film byJohannes Höflich, Jo Angerer
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Produced by