New Appointments at Ministry and GNTO

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, following the induction of new Tourism Development Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos, recently appointed former secretary general of the Greek National Tourism Organization, Athanasios Oikonomou, as the new president of the GNTO, and Iraklis Valvis as new secretary general. Spyros Efstathopoulos was appointed as the development ministry’s secretary general of tourism.

Spyros Efstathopoulos was born in Athens in 1949. He studied Law at the University of Athens and has postgraduate studies in political science at the University of CAEN in France. He speaks French and English. From March 2004 until October 2007 he was the special secretary for competitiveness of the ministry of development. He is currently a member of the National Council on Competitiveness and Development and the National Tourism Council.

Iraklis Valvis was born in Athens in 1961. He studied law at the Democritus University of Thrace and was a journalist for the daily Komotini newspaper “H Patrida.” He has practised law since 1985.