Huge Price Increase.

[cinnamon]

Just read an article in today's Times. The Greek government need to pay off it's debts so are hugely raising the price of visiting historic sites.

 

From January, the cost of visiting the Acropolis in Athens will rise from €12 to €52. A massive increase of 430%.

 

Will it put anyone off visiting?

[CruiserBruce]

Or perhaps the operations of this sites need to pay for themselves?

[John Bull]

If it's true (it says the same in the Daily Mail, so it must be true :D) they're probably going from the sublime to the ridiculous.

 

They obviously think that the Acropolis is a once-in-a-lifetime experience & consequently folk will pay well over-the-odds.

Time will tell if they've pitched the price at its most-productive level. Bear in mind that if attendances tumble by 75% they're still no worse off, though perhaps the net return from a more realistic price would be higher.

And the publicity given to this increase will impact on a country always regarded as a cheap place for a holiday.

 

Elsewhere in Greece admission prices are broadly doubling - and since the charges have been low that does make sense in view of their economy.

 

VAT changes are comparatively minor, for instance they'll add a little to the cost of a coffee, a meal, a hotel room, and that makes sense too.

Assuming that sales all go through the cash register, something which the Greeks have never been good at.;)

 

JB :)

 

_

[Hlitner]

JB is right, even those of us in the USA would never question the "Daily Mail." But 52€ does sound a bit excessive...if true. The good news would be at those prices it will not be as crowded up on the Acropolis.

 

Here is a link to the Daily Mail story (hope this doesn't violate posting guidelines).

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3273440/Acropolis-fees-soar-pay-Greek-debt.html

 

Hank

[Anapli]

Something is wrong in this article... the new prices:

 

Acropolis site + Roman Agora + Olympeion etc = 20 euro (now 12 euro)

Knossos site (Heraklion Crete) = 15 euro (now 6 euro)

Ancient Theater of Epidaurus = 12 euro (now 6 euro)

Mycenae site = 12 euro (now 8 euro)

... and some other sites ...

 

They plan these prices will be from April to October... all other months will be 50% lower.

 

THESE PRICES AREN'T FINAL!!

Edited October 15, 2015 by Anapli

[Got2Cruise]

Huge true but still affordable. I wouldn't mind help contribute to the maintenance of these ancient treasures.

[cruisemom42]

Something is wrong in this article... the new prices:

 

Acropolis site + Roman Agora + Olympeion etc = 20 euro (now 12 euro)

Knossos site (Heraklion Crete) = 15 euro (now 6 euro)

Ancient Theater of Epidaurus = 12 euro (now 6 euro)

Mycenae site = 12 euro (now 8 euro)

... and some other sites ...

 

They plan these prices will be from April to October... all other months will be 50% lower.

 

THESE PRICES AREN'T FINAL!!

 

That doesn't sound completely unreasonable. (The ones posted initially were a bit much!)

 

A couple of years ago, Turkey significantly raised the prices of many of the key attractions in Istanbul. I haven't heard that they are any less crowded because of it..... ;)

[John Bull]

Something is wrong in this article... the new prices:

 

Acropolis site + Roman Agora + Olympeion etc = 20 euro (now 12 euro)

Knossos site (Heraklion Crete) = 15 euro (now 6 euro)

Ancient Theater of Epidaurus = 12 euro (now 6 euro)

Mycenae site = 12 euro (now 8 euro)

... and some other sites ...

 

They plan these prices will be from April to October... all other months will be 50% lower.

 

THESE PRICES AREN'T FINAL!!

 

That's what I'm reading on

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/10/14/increase-in-ticket-prices-to-greek-archaeological-sites-and-museums/

 

Much more sensible

 

JB :)

[cinnamon]

Well I'm not surprised if the Daily Mail got it wrong but am disappointed if The Times did.

Another case of sloppy journalism perhaps.

[Hlitner]

Huge true but still affordable. I wouldn't mind help contribute to the maintenance of these ancient treasures.

 

Don't be silly. You will not be paying for maintenance, but rather for the ridiculous Greek work rules that have resulted in their economy being ruined. The way things work with the Greek government it is highly unlikely that any of the price increase will actually benefit the ruins. Bummer. What is happening is that Greek government is simply looking for a way to get non-Greeks to pay for their government's total incompetence. Of course we will not talk about our own government who has manged to increase our own debt from 10 Trillion to over 18 Trillion under the current administration. These number are so large they are not even comprehensible.

 

Hank

[CrazyJess]

The increasing of cost from 12 euro to 52 sounds just crazy. I think such politic could reduce number of visitors. The cost of 20 euro for Acropolis is high but affordable. Any way the cost of 20 euro wouldn’t stop me from going to Greece. The cost of 52 euro will make me think about different destination….:confused::confused::confused:

Jess :)

[nick_arch]

"From January, the cost of visiting the Acropolis in Athens will rise from €12 to €52. A massive increase of 430%. "

 

Huge laugh. . . The usual bs we get from most UK newspapers lately, especially the Daily Fail.

 

The ticket proposed for Acropolis is 20 euros per person and 10 euros November to March. Kids under 18 used to enter and enter for free + discounts are available for students and seniors.

 

20 euros per person on high season is quite reasonable for the specific monument.

 

Other sites in Europe, examples:

Italy: Leaning Tower of Pisa: 18 euros

Italy: Pompei ticket: 19.50 euros

 

UK: Stonehenge: 19.70 euros!

Edited October 16, 2015 by nick_arch

[nick_arch]

It is so dissapointing to read people are thinking of changing a destination based on false information by newspapers. . . not referring to people but the newspapers that play people into believing a different thing that reality. . .

[cruisemom42]

"From January, the cost of visiting the Acropolis in Athens will rise from €12 to €52. A massive increase of 430%. "

 

Huge laugh. . . The usual bs we get from most UK newspapers lately, especially the Daily Fail.

 

The ticket proposed for Acropolis is 20 euros per person and 10 euros November to March. Kids under 18 used to enter and enter for free + discounts are available for students and seniors.

 

20 euros per person on high season is quite reasonable for the specific monument.

 

Other sites in Europe, examples:

Italy: Leaning Tower of Pisa: 18 euros

Italy: Pompei ticket: 19.50 euros

 

UK: Stonehenge: 19.70 euros!

 

I'm all for total accuracy in reporting.

 

....and by the way, the official ticket price for entry to Pompeii is 13,00 euro (not 19,50). :D

 

Official site of the Superintendant of Archaeology: http://www.pompeiisites.org/Sezione.jsp?titolo=TICKETS+AND+INFO&idSezione=6786

[theriac]

Don't be silly. You will not be paying for maintenance, but rather for the ridiculous Greek work rules that have resulted in their economy being ruined. The way things work with the Greek government it is highly unlikely that any of the price increase will actually benefit the ruins. Bummer. What is happening is that Greek government is simply looking for a way to get non-Greeks to pay for their government's total incompetence. Of course we will not talk about our own government who has manged to increase our own debt from 10 Trillion to over 18 Trillion under the current administration. These number are so large they are not even comprehensible.

 

Hank

 

The current administration also inherited a recession and a budget from for the first year from the previous administration. It all needs to be looked at in context. So the debt has gone about a little under 80% under Obama.

 

Look the Reagan though and the debt rose 130% in the first 6 years and 170% when he left office. Don't forget Clinton left office with a surplus meaning Bush brought us to 10 trillion in debt in 8 years. If you look at FDR the debt rose over 1000% in his terms and Woodrow Wilson raised the debt 700%.

 

So based on historical facts we don't have to much too complain about with the US debt right now. Especially coming out of a recession and with such high unemployment for years we have to remember we lost tax dollars from those unemployment and underemployed but that doesn't mean the spending goes away.

 

The crisis in Greece is a lot different than what happened here and is worth talking about opposed to our debt at home which is actually slowing down with the unemployment rates dropping all the time.

[roothy123]

Perhaps this change occurred before I heard about it, but the cable car in Santorini is now 5 euros per ride, not roundtrip. I had read that the fare was 5 euros roundtrip. Some could argue that's too much to charge people if the only way to get to Fira is cable car, donkey, or long poopy walk alongside donkeys. Others could argue it's not much for a cable car ride and that cable car rides elsewhere are more. (I think in Dubrovnik, Croatia, it's around 20 euros roundtrip, although it's not something that's required to be able to sightsee there).

 

I just paid it. At least there was a sign at the booth where you pay that the ticket was per ride, so hopefully nobody found themselves stranded up top with no way to pay!

[theriac]

I think 5 euro is very reasonable for a cable car ride. I think it was like 20 Swiss francs when I went up mount Pilatus.