ND on the tourism minister’s comments

“The government has proved that it does not really want a consensus and that its interest in tourism, the country’s biggest industry, is non existent,” main opposition New Democracy (ND) party spokesman Yiannis Mihelakis stressed on Tuesday.
He made the comments in response to statements by Tourism and Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos after a proposal by ND leader Antonis Samaras suggesting the establishment of a “national contract for tourism”.
“Using insults and lies, the government rejects specific proposals tabled by ND in support of the tourism sector,” he said, adding that the proposals in question have the backing of the Federation of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE).
In an announcement, Geroulanos had accused Samaras of making the proposals in an attempt to mend his party’s image in the wake of society’s outcry after ND had incited the taxi owners’s protests, without considering the cost to tourism or the country’s image abroad.