| The Greeks still use the phrase, "we fed the dogs | | | | students from the mainland, the bars that still remained |
| sausages" to describe the heady days of tourism in | | | | and some of the restaurants went from "bar crawl" |
| the late 70's and early 80's. Tiny bars were packed to | | | | mode to "cafe bar chic". This development raised the |
| the rafters with hedonistic, beer swilling British, Dutch | | | | standard of the cafe bars to a previously unseen level |
| and Scandinavian youngsters and anyone with a bar | | | | and became popular with French and Italian tourists. As |
| could make as much money in a week as their | | | | a result of the demand for high quality food and wine, |
| parents made in a year. Fortunes were made, and lost, | | | | several restaurants went more upmarket, providing |
| and local people will tell you that it was common for | | | | contemporary Greek and International cuisine of the |
| those involved in the business to fly to Athens for a | | | | very highest standard. Many of the returning visitiors |
| coffee and return to open their bar in the evening. | | | | who came for a drinking holiday were disappointed in |
| Large numbers of casual workers were employed as | | | | the changes and went to other resorts such as Stalis |
| "Kamakis" on the door to drag people into the bars, | | | | where their needs were still catered for. Prices |
| whilst others worked as bar staff, glass collectors and | | | | naturally increased and this attracted more middle |
| waiters. It seemed that it would never end. | | | | class visitors to the town, deterring the traditional |
| A combination of increasing intolerance of the | | | | package holidaymaker. |
| behaviour of the young (and sometimes not so young!) | | | | Whilst the town still has three or four dedicated |
| tourists, drinking through the night and staggering back | | | | "tourist" bars, the majority of the bars are now more |
| to their apartments at sunrise and the growth of the | | | | dedicated to Greek and international music and tastes |
| specialised resort of Malia, nearer to the airport and | | | | than endless renditions of Zorba the Greek, Madonna |
| with bigger clubs and bars, English restaurants and | | | | and Abba or Grease re-mixes. Many online review |
| curry houses, ended the boom years for the town. | | | | sites contain updated information and even some of |
| With a spectacular lack of foresight, the youth market | | | | the larger tour companies have now amended their |
| was lost and the marketing for the town did not tap | | | | descriptions to reflect the change in the nature of |
| into replacement markets, reaching an all time low in | | | | Agios Nikolaos, concentrating on the ambience and |
| 2004. It took a strange development to change the | | | | quality rather than the clubs and discos which they |
| town into the cosmopolitan resort it is today. The | | | | were still advertising for many years after they were |
| building of a Technical college in the area. | | | | closed. |
| With a view to accommodating the relatively wealthy | | | | |