Faliraki gets tough on pub crawls

TOURIST chiefs in Faliraki have launched a crackdown on organised pub crawls in an effort to clean up the Greek resort’s beleaguered reputation.

Operators will have to apply for special licences before running the boozy nights, giving details of the intended route and which bars will be visited.

Officials in Rhodes have acted in response to the bad publicity generated by the antics of  British tourists last year. A spate of sex attacks on female clubbers, TV documentary series Club Reps and a critical episode of Tonight with Trevor McDonald all damaged the resort.

Greek National Tourist Board UK director Panos Argyros said: “The real villains are the people who do deals with bar owners to get tourists in. They sell tickets for pub crawls but don’t offer tourists any support. We don’t want the scenes of last year, where young people were left so drunk they couldn’t find their way to their hotels.”

Argyros said he was sure UK operators would support the licensing scheme and it was not the intention to stop them offering bar visits. “They know they have a responsibility to protect their clients. We had problems with the media and we don’t want to repeat it.”