German and British Tourists Boycott Greece

Vivid TV coverage of rioting protesters, burning buildings and debilitating strikes during the country’s near-economic collapse has led to 20,000 cancellations of Athens hotel bookings in the last two weeks.

Figures released this week showed a dramatic decline in hotel bookings throughout mainland Greece and the Greek islands - and the country's deputy tourism minister also resigned.

Tourism accounts for almost one fifth of the Greek economy and was seen as the best hope for economic recovery.

However, pressure on Greece and other eurozone economies eased slightly when finance ministers met in Brussels to discuss tougher rules on government spending.

The resignation of Deputy Tourism Minister Angela Gerekou followed revelations that her famous singer husband, Tolis Voskopoulos, had evaded paying tax since 1993.

The former actress was the driving force behind a pending multi-million pound advertising campaign for the crucial tourism sector. She had plans to lure international stars to Greece. But in the wake of increasingly violent demonstrations, tourists have stayed away.

Greek hoteliers say they expect a 10% drop in reservations and a 15% decline in revenue compared with last year.

Bookings to Aegean islands, and popular resorts on the Peloponnese have also fallen despite some tour operators offering discounts of as much as 30% on packages to Greece. Tourism experts say Germans and Britons, mostly citing safety concerns, are leading the downturn.