Greek-Australians are usually associated with the post-war migration era of the 50s - a well-settled part of Australia's multicultural community. As researcher Nikolaos Gkolfinopoulos has identified though, the economic downtown of the last few year has brought a new wave of Greek millennials relocating downunder.
Gkolfinopoulos spent 12 months studying the lives of Greeks that have emigrated to Melbourne in the last few years - unsurprisingly, mainly due to the economic and social crisis in Greece. His research included 52 survey responses, 18 in-depth interviews, and 2 focus groups.
Based in Spain, Gkolfinopoulos is currently working for the UN’s World Tourism Organisation and is set to publish the full findings of that research in his thesis for Monash University, The New Greek-Millennials Migration Wave: From Dreaming to Living Melbourne, which will also feature in various academic journals.
Ahead of those publications, Gkolfinopoulos has shares some of the key findings with SBS Radio Greek:
GMMs (Greek-Millennial Migrants)
Gkolfinopoulos's study focused on the Greek-Millennial Migrants (GMMs) aged 19 to 39 that have migrated to Melbourne since 2008. Previous data has shown an increasing number of Greek Millennials migrating to Melbourne, but there was a distinct lack of insights into this new wave.
A core finding of the research was that the GMMs decided to migrate to Melbourne mostly as by-products of the Greek diaspora: family ties; friends that have already migrated; easier expected adaptation; a stepping stone.
However, their positive experience is not due to Hellenism, rather the opposite.
Interestingly, from a destination policy perspective, the GMMs are expected to be a great pulling factor of Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) tourism. This has the potential of fostering tourism in Melbourne and highlights the significant role ethnic diasporas can play in the city’s tourism economy.
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
1. Most of the GMMs leave Greece because of the Greek Economic Crisis and its by-products
Extreme levels of unemployment, the working conditions, the financial insecurity and the lack of career opportunities back in Greece caused these young and well-educated migrants to seek opportunity elsewhere.
90.4% of the participants have received tertiary education. So while Greece loses its brightest minds, the migratory destinations benefit from educated, skilled, capable migrants they have not had to invest in through their own public education systems.
2. Family ties are a major drawcard
The majority of the participants noted that they were thinking of migrating only to Melbourne because of family ties, friends that have previously migrated to Melbourne, and the English language. The very well settled Greek diaspora in Melbourne is robust enough to overcome the burden of geographical distance during the decision of the migratory destination. This proves that the phenomenon of chain migration is dominant in the case of Melbourne. Also, many of the participants who got interviewed migrated because they were following their family or partner, and they wanted to experience living abroad.
3. They often have to 'buy time' on irrelevant visas
During the period of time it takes them to get set up in Melbourne, there can be a frustrating process of 'buying-time' on different types of visas as there is a lack of appropriate visa scheme for their purposes.
In general, the GMMs are not migrating to Melbourne to study nor is travelling around is their primary purpose - so jumping from tourist visas to student visas is not a desire - rather a vicious cycle.
Overall the visa process is considered by many to be a very negative experience. With the situation in Greece not allowing for them to make a permanent return, they are often forced to jump ship to another country.
4.They enjoy the quality of life in Melbourne
Regarding their living experience, GMMs are very satisfied with the multicultural character of the city, the quality of education provided, the urban environment and its attractions, the natural attractions, and the quality of living. From a destination branding point of view, these are the aspects that could therefore be promoted to future Greek migrants and for Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) tourism.
5.GMMs encourage tourism
GMMs travel very frequently in the inner city and suburbs, and less to the regional Victoria and other States. However, their travelling drastically increases when they have friends and relatives.
While most of them have not received visits from Greece yet, 84.6 percent of GMMs expect VFR visits in the future. Also, the majority of the participants said they would be very likely to recommend Melbourne as a travelling destination - highlighting the strong connection between migration and tourism. If Melbourne recognises its diasporas as a valuable tourism asset will be able to benefit from targeted tourism policies based on the links of previous, current, and future migration waves.
6. They don't necessarily get on with the generations of Greek immigrants that came before them
Unexpectedly, the research found major clashes between the GMMs and the Greek Diaspora of Melbourne.
Many of the respondents feel that the Greek-Australians are taking advantage of the GMMs and exploit them regarding employment and wage. Also, many are dissatisfied with their relatives because they did not receive the support they expected.
Undoubtedly, this is not the case for all GMMs - especially as this study was exploratory in character and limited in the sample size. However, the issue was recognised and mentioned from almost all of the respondents, whether expressing personal experiences or sharing cases of other GMMs they were aware of.
Nikolaos Gkolfinopoulos is currently working for UN’s World Tourism Organisation and is based in Spain. He was a Postgraduate Researcher doing his Master of International Sustainable Tourism Management at Monash University in Melbourne.
