It is mid-January, the new year has begun and Heraklion, the Cretan capital, is abuzz with tourists – most of them silver-haired. Over in Rhodes, senior citizens lap up the sun’s rays in the island’s elegant port town, many enjoying trips that began in November.
These scenes are not real – at least not yet. Vassilis Kikilias, Greece’s tourism minister, hopes they soon will be as he looks to make the most of an energy crisis, soaring bills and global uncertainty. “Our doors are open 12 months round, our friends in northern Europe should know this. They should head here for the winter.”
