Today is our last day in Croatia... in the Balkans! What an enjoyable experience we have had. We will be surprised if the scenery in Europe is as good. Touring in springtime added freshness and colour to the countryside... kept the crowds in the museums down to a minimum... and gave us extra attention in cafes (more often than not, we were the only patrons). Everywhere we went the tourist industry was optimistic that this summer will bring a return to the big crowds of pre-GST days... throughout our whole month, the mantra was "The season starts in 8 days... we must hurry to get ready"... throughout the whole two months, the 8 day estimate remained static.
Value for money is so good in Balkan touring, you sometimes feel you are exploiting their current conditions. In some of the poorer countries, our restaurant bill was the equivalent of $15-20... for two meals and half-a-litre of wine... in places offering unique views and excellent food.
So let's look at the ethics... Australians have average income per household of about $4,000 per month... not bad by world standards... but far from the best... Switzerland's average is $5,600. So, we wealthy foreigners land in the Balkans and start spending our money in a manner that will deliver the locals an average income that is sometimes less than one-tenth of ours. Comparison of figures is difficult because some countries are not good at identifying income... or counting... or have political motives in mixing up the arithmetic. Taking Wikipedia as the source of truth (always a dangerous step) we get comparative figures of average monthly incomes as follows:
Albania 264 (average monthly income of 264, some one-fifteenth of Australia's average)
Macedonia 443
Bulgaria 414
Serbia 489
Romania 474
Bosnia and Herzegovina 558
Montenegro 618
Croatia 959
Greece 1250
Portugal 1164
Slovenia 1311
(It is interesting to note the bad press handed out to Greece for its inability to manage its national debt and balance its budget ... but on a comparison of average income, it is far from the worst. These figures reflect conditions prior to the GFC... so Greece may have a current position much worse than shown.)
So, we waltz in with our privileged Australian income, consume the food and services of the poorer host country... and leave a 10% tip. The income earner in the poor country is most appreciative... without your custom, he/she would be worse off. But in our own country, we would happily pay twice or thrice the amount charged by the poorer country. Ethically, are we exploiting the unfortunate circumstance of the poorer host country? What would Gandhi say about this situation... what would Mother Teresa have to say? These ethical issues are not new. Under the current rules of the game, we can do most good by following self-interest and holidaying in poor countries in larger and larger numbers... put the supply of such services under pressure... thereby leading to an increase in prices... thereby leading to a resolution of ethical issues... its a long bow to draw... this will not happen quickly. So, having pondered the issue, the call to action to resolve it is... plan your next holiday in a country with a low level of average income... when there, live like a king... double the size of your normal tip... speak quietly... complement them. OK, you do that already (I could have saved my breath).
Our next phase of our holiday is in Italy. Its average monthly income is $2368 (pre-GST). We'll find prices much higher than the Balkans... people are likely to be a little less appreciative of our custom... the queues in museums will be much longer... but the coffee and the bread will have more flavour. So much of Balkan history arises from the activities of the Roman empire... the Byzantine empire... and the Venician empire. So much of world values are based on Europe having been ruled by Romans in one form or another. It will be exciting to visit the seats of power that have shaped our world.
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