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\u2018Everything is simplified. The demanding programs we had up until just a few years ago are being changed because people want less\u2026 And everything needs to be done fast,\u2019 professional tour guide Konstantinos Sfikas tells Kathimerini over breakfast at the Acropolis Museum. [Nikos Kokkalias]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Konstantinos Sfikas found himself in the limelight recently as the guide who took movie stars Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes on a tour of Thessaloniki during their appearance at the northern port city\u2019s annual film festival last November. He took them to the historic quarter of Ano Poli and the Rotonda, as well as to a service at the Church of Agios Dimitrios, Thessaloniki\u2019s patron saint. But Sfikas also took Binoche to visit the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist on the outskirts of Thessaloniki, which is home to the tomb of the Greek Orthodox Saint Paisios. The French actress\u2019 reference to the visit on the festival stage the day after prompted a storm of commentary on social media and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really don\u2019t understand people\u2019s reactions sometimes. She converted to Orthodoxy and has every right to take a pilgrimage to the saint\u2019s grave, which she waited three hours to see. We live in a democracy,\u201d comments Sfikas over breakfast at the Acropolis Museum during a recent lightning visit to Athens.<\/p>\n
Sfikas is discreet when talking about the celebrities he\u2019s taken on tours, including Oliver Stone, William Dafoe, John Sayles, Chris Cooper and Alexander Payne. \u201cMy favorite, by far, was John Malkovich,\u201d he admits to Kathimerini, looking back on a memorable incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d heard from a colleague that Malkovich drinks three cappuccinos at a time, so when we sat down for some refreshment at the Museum of Byzantine Culture and I placed the three coffees in front of him, unasked; he smiled for the first time on the tour and asked five questions about history and architecture. They were very good questions. He displayed a kind of interest that we rarely see in tourists,\u201d says Sfikas.<\/p>\n
In fact, many of the foreign visitors he guides around Athens confuse the Acropolis Museum with the National Archaeological Museum. \u201cAthens\u2019 heart may beat here, but the flagship of all our museums is on Patission Street, even if it is only rarely included on group itineraries,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The omission of the country\u2019s most important archaeological museum points to a growing trend in tourism, he explains. \u201cEverything is simplified. The demanding programs we had up until just a few years ago are being changed because people want less. Americans, for example, want to have \u2018fun, fun, fun\u2019 and then maybe see a couple of sights. And everything needs to be done fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sfikas says that in the past, tourists coming to Greece were well-informed about its ancient monuments and museums. \u201cNow, most of them are more informed about where to take the best photo. If you don\u2019t show them where the three blue domes in Santorini are for their photos, it\u2019s as if they never went,\u201d he says, referring to a specific spot in the picturesque town of Oia that\u2019s a favorite among snap-happy tourists.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey go crazy when I tell them there\u2019s a fourth dome,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
Is he at all concerned that people can find the domes and anything else they want with a simple mobile app and may not need his services?<\/p>\n
\u201cNot at all. Multimedia can only provide a small part of what a tour guide offers. A guide will answer every question you have \u2013 your phone won\u2019t. A tourist might not remember a monument they saw after leaving, but they will remember the impression their guide made on them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tour guide\u2019s greatest curse is the \u201cindifferent tourist,\u201d he says, going on to talk about how much he enjoys his work and the contact with his clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut once the season is over, I want to curl up at home or go on a long trip \u2013 and not speak to a single soul.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the accredited guide, tourism did anything but slump as a result of the Covid pandemic. \u201cPeople cannot seem to get enough of traveling,\u201d he says. Critics even say that Greece has become saturated, but surely this is good news for a tour guide, right?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that overtourism is bad for Greece. There\u2019s no point in charging a passenger a few euros if they want to leave the cruise ship. They\u2019re here. You can\u2019t say, \u2018Don\u2019t get off at Mykonos or Santorini, or you\u2019ll have to pay.\u2019 They\u2019ll pay. It\u2019s a revenue-raising measure only. Cruise ships need to be scheduled to arrive at regular intervals, not seven of them at the same time,\u201d he comments on one of the biggest challenges facing the more popular Aegean islands.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t take so many people; we don\u2019t have the infrastructure. We can\u2019t take so many swimming pools; we don\u2019t have the water. We can\u2019t take having to walk for half an hour to cover a distance of 200 meters on an island.\u201d<\/p>\n
We watch people climb up the Sacred Rock to the Parthenon across the way. It\u2019s chilly and they seem to be enjoying the walk in the sun. But what about in the summer, when daytime highs can hit 40 degrees Celsius?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe either go at 8 a.m. and leave at 9.30 a.m. or later, in the early evening,\u201d says Sfikas, adding that the introduction of slots has helped regulate traffic at the popular archaeological site. \u201cThings are very reasonable right now. We\u2019ll see how it goes in the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sfikas, whose parents came from Kozani and Olympus in northern Greece, had nothing to do with the tourism sector until the age of 40. \u201cI had been in banking for 20 years,\u201d he says. This changed with a voluntary redundancy and a visit to the archaeological site of Aigai, which prompted him to enroll at a state guide school.<\/p>\n
Now aged 65, he has experience and know-how, taking discerning tourists across Greece\u2019s mountains and seas \u2013 occasionally even taking them underground. \u201cI\u2019ve already conducted four tours of the Thessaloniki metro and have more booked,\u201d he tells Kathimerini. \u201cPeople loved what they saw. We fought hard so that the ancient artifacts would be kept in situ, but now it is what it is. We accept the situation and move on.\u201d<\/p>\n
As we wrap up our working breakfast with a slice of almond cake, we ask Sfikas what his impressions are of Greek tourists. Do they pass muster?<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s just say they\u2019re demanding,\u201d he laughs. \u201cWe\u2019re not the best tourists and we often have the attitude that we own the guide and don\u2019t care if there are other people with us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n