Greek anger keeps German tourists away

[dkf]

CORINTH, Greece (Reuters) - German tourists are in short supply in Greece these days, frightened away by reports of visceral anti-German sentiment in some places, fears of being stranded by strikes and television images of fiery anti-austerity riots.

Who in their right mind, after all, would want to go on holiday to a place where they might be called a Nazi?

The dearth of Germans is especially noticeable in tourist hotspots like Corinth, an enchanting ancient town 80 km west of Athens famous for the steep and narrow walls of its 6-km (4-mile) long canal that cuts across the Peloponnesian Peninsula.

Because tourism accounts for a disproportionately large 15 percent of Greece's gross domestic product (GDP) and Germans are the largest group of visitors, their absence is causing pain.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-greece-election-germansbre83o0wu-20120425,0,83904.story