Samothraki faces booking cancellations after ferry link disruption

Half the bookings made at the northern Aegean island of Samothraki have been cancelled as a result of the problems with ferry connections which left hundreds of tourists stranded for days, the mayor said Thursday.

Samothraki was cut off from the rest of the country for nine days due to a combination of powerful winds and the breakdown of the main ferry that links the island to Alexandroupolis on the mainland.

More than 1,500 tourists who were on the island managed to leave by Thursday morning, with three ferries making several trips to the mainland.

Mayor Athanasios Vitsas told state-run news agency ANA-MPA ferry services have been restored but the damage has already been done in the tourism industry.

“The issue now is that the impact is big. We had too many cancellations and while the problem peaked on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, we already had 50 percent cancellations as of Saturday,” he was quoted as saying.

According to witnesses, the island’s port Wednesday resembled a large car park, with hundreds of travelers still unaware when they will leave.

Local authorities provided free meals to those stranded at the port.