Tourism Minister Meets With Conference Organizers

Tourism Development Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos recently met with representatives of the Association of Greek Exhibition and Conference Organizers (AGECO).

The meeting gave both sides the opportunity to discuss issues on the exhibition and conference tourism and the sustainable development of municipalities outside of Athens and Thessaloniki, such as Rodos, Kos and Crete through this type of tourism.

Mr. Spiliotopoulos stressed that future prospect and development of the tourism sector is impossible if emphasis is not placed on “new tourism products” such as conference and exhibition tourism. He added “Large cities, such as Athens, would not be able to become city break destinations if conference and exhibition tourism is not supported.” According to Mr. Spiliotopoulos, conference and exhibition tourism can maintain a permanent flow of visitors to both Athens and Thessaloniki and beyond.

The tourism minister asserted, “City breaks can take place within conference and exhibition tourism, so we have to embrace the industry and work together in providing solutions to persistent problems.”

Tassos Koumanis, chairman of AGECO, applauded the minister’s support to conference and exhibition tourism. “The support we have received from Mr. Spiliotopoulos is unprecedented,” said Mr. Koumanis. “It only took a ten-minute meeting to move forward to solutions on issues that have dragged on for decades.”