German Tour Operators, Travel Agents Coming to Greece for DRV Conference

Some of Germany’s leading tour operators and travel agents will be in Greece between October 28-31 to participate in the 2021 conference of the German Travel Association (DRV).

The association will hold its annual event at Costa Navarino in Messinia in a hybrid form. The event is expected to bring over 400 participants to Costa Navarino from business, politics and the media to discuss on politics, the coronavirus pandemic, climate protection and securing skilled workers.

According to DRV President Norbert Fiebig, following Germany’s elections, the country’s political scene and travel industry is making a fresh start.

“The [tourism] industry is at the end of two of the most difficult years in its history and is now looking to the future with hope. We are focusing on this new beginning and the main challenges of the future,” he said.

DRV President Norbert Fiebig

DRV’s conference will host prominent personalities from the fields of politics, research and science, medicine, media and the travel industry.

Attendees will include Thomas Bareiß, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy; Professor Alexander Kekulé from the Institute for Biosafety Research; Thomas Ellerbeck, Director Corporate & External Affairs at TUI Group; and Alexander Karst, Head of Sales for Germany at the Lufthansa Group.

Also present will be Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias; Peloponnese Governor Panagiotis Nikas and Greek National Tourism Organization Secretary-General Dimitris Fragakis.

DRV will host a number of workshops on destination Peloponnese.

Germany is currently Greece’s leading source market. More than 3.7 million German travelers visited Greek destinations before the outbreak of Covid-19 generating over 3 billion euros in revenues.

With regard to this year, recent data covering the January-August 2021 period showed that travel receipts from Germany to Greece increased by 114.7 percent year-on-year to over 1.2 billion euros.