ATHENS, July 29, (AFP) - Visitors to the Athens Games who find the local prices Olympian can now complain with a new telephone hotline designed to discourage excessive charging by restaurants and cafes.
The hotline - 801 11 62 222 - will be open 24 hours a day in Greek and English, and is being set up by the Greek Confederation of Restaurants, representing 20,000 establishments.
"Our sector must understand that the Games aren't an occasion to get rich quick, but a way to promote Greece, as was the case for Barcelona," said the organisation's president, Costas Zimelis.
Another of the body's officials, Apostolos Athanassos, admitted that there had been some reports of excessive prices being charged in Plaka, the tourist quarter of Athens.
However, Athanassos said the high prices were limited and that, in general, prices had "stabilised" since 2002 or even fallen during the past three months outside Athens.