New Conference Center in Porto Heli

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony: Elsa Papadimitriou, MP for Argolida; Bishop Efraim for Hydra, Spetses; Fani Palli-Petralia, minister of tourism; Vasilis Sotiropoulos, prefect of Argolida; Menelaos Siakolas, president and managing director for AKS hotels.

AKS hotel group celebrated its new conference center in Porto Heli with an opening ceremony last month. Menelaos Siakolas, president and managing director of AKS Hotels, said that the company recognized the importance of conference tourism and believed that their center will help to develop tourism in Greece. He also pointed out that the company hopes the center will bring social and economic opportunities to the local community. “Our company’s goal is not only to operate in an organized and effective manner, but to share the values and benefits with the local community,” he said.

Minister of tourism development, Fani Palli-Petralia said that Porto Heli is an “example of the image that our country wants to promote internationally: modern infrastructure, natural beauty and hospitality.”

Completed in the fall of 2005, the new three-level conference center is already in operation and has an area of 14,000 square meters, 3,500 square meters of which are conference space and the remainder support space.

The center features a grand ballroom with a capacity for 700 in theatre-style seats that can be divided into three spaces; a support area with a capacity for 200 that can be divided into four break-out rooms; a 1,200 square meter exhibition area; and 11 break-out rooms ranging in size from 15 to 45 square meters. The center offers top-quality seats (the 9-hour-seat), cutting-edge audio-visual technology, and well-trained staff. The Center has a business center that provides secretarial support, internet access, laptop, fax and mobile telephone rental. There is underground parking for 170 cars.

AKS Hotels, in business in Greece since 1998, operates four hotels, two in Porto Heli and two on Crete.