Greece’s Tourism Revenue Falls by 20% in 2009
BalkanTravellers.com
Approximately the same decrease – by 20.6 per cent, has been observed in the money spent by Greeks on travel abroad.
The two main reasons for Greece’s tourism downturn are the world financial crisis and the expensive euro, the RIA Novisti news agency wrote.
Greek hotels are widely offering discounted prices, some of them reaching up to 30 per cent of last year’s tourist package value, the publication added.
According to the Kathimerini newspaper, the downturn of the flow of tourists towards Spain between January and March of this year, at 20.8 per cent, is similar to that experienced by Greece.
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Epicure
Turkey
Izmir Gourmet: Food is in the Air
Food is literally everywhere in Izmir.
The first stop a traveller would usually make, is Passaport – the vivid promenade along the seaside, which has turned into a landmark with its black and white pavement.
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Curiosity Chest
Turkey
Santa Claus Museum in Turkey to Attract Newlyweds and Tourists
4 May 2010 | A Turkish travel agency intends to popularize the birthplace of Santa Claus’s prototype, Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, in present-day Turkey, not just as a tourist but also as a wedding destination. Full Story
Useful Reads
Turkey
A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire (2008) | By M. Şűkrű Hanioğlu
Far too often, the narrative of the collapse of an empire becomes a moral drama. Wealth is drained away by decadence, and power undercut by corruption. There are attempts at recovery, reform, re-consolidation; perhaps a war, or a grand alliance, or another gamble which seems mad in hindsight. Private fiefdoms emerge, tribes break away, and hostile external powers chip away at the borders.
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Music
Macedonia
Macedonia: Esma Redžepova's Passion for Humanity
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Photogalleries
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A Perfect Shot
Koprivshtitsa Fair, Bulgara. Photographs by Neva Micheva
In Homo Urbanus Europeanus, exhibited May 9-24 in front of the National Theatre in Sofia, Jean-Marc Caracci presents his photographs of people in the urban environment of European capitals.
RED&WHITE SOFIA. On the 1st of March Bulgarians say goodbye to the winter. They buy each other red&white threads to carry around until they see a stork and spring can begin. Photography by Lode Desmet
BULGARIA D'OR: The Bulgarian countryside, patinated with the noble golden dust of the autumn. Photographs by Lode Desmet
360 degrees Bulgaria, an exhibition by photographer Alexandar Ivanov, is on display at the Sea Garden in Varna until August 28. It will be shown at Plovdiv’s Central Square from Sept 5.
The exhibition Photographs of a Trip Through Bulgaria by Hungarian photographer András Balla can be seen in Sofia's Hungarian Cultural Institute, at Aksakov 16 Street, until August 22
Instant Spring in Sofia | Photographs by Lode Desmet
Off-the-season Beauty of Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast | Photographs by Adelina Iliev
Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea Coast
Photographs by Albena Shkodrova
excellent smugs
