Athens is the New Berlin has become a common press slogan recently. Vallejo Gantner, the former director of PS122, one of New York’s contemporary performance institutions and I, a Diaspora Greek arts manager, were in Athens in to see if the city is going through a creative regeneration.
Artists, collectives, new bars, farm-to-table restaurants, startups, and alternative music venues are amassing in the Greek capital. Abandoned buildings, the scars from what Greeks simply call ‘the Crisis’ are turning to cultural spaces and startups. Political statements are now blazoning street art. Artists from Mexico, Bali, New York and Western Europe are making Athens a new base. Is Athens the New Berlin? No, it is Athens. But, something is happening.
Over 30 million tourists visited Greece in 2017. According to the World Tourism and Trade Council, seven percent of Greece’s GDP $14.7bn USD is derived from tourism. 2017 will end as an “all-time record year for Athens tourism”, with more than five million visitors.
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RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Jorge Láscar License: CC-BY-SA
Source: neoskosmos.com
