Rhodes Hotel Association Announces New Board of Directors, Priorities for Tourism

The Old town of Rhodes.

The Rhodes Hotel Association recently announced its new Board of Directors following elections held on December 14.

The association’s new president is Greek hotelier Ioannis Papavasiliou.

In his speech, Papavasiliou underlined that the new Board will continue to address the challenges of the hotel industry, strive to find solutions to crucial issues and do its best to further improve the experience of guests on the island.

According to the new president, priorities of the new board includes boosting Rhodes’ presence at tourism exhibitions and focusing on specific audiences such as the 60+ market (senior travelers) and digital nomads in order to extend the island’s tourism season.

Plans also include seeking collaborations with the Turkish market.

“That is, creating specialized programs and packages for our clients from Turkey, in conjunction with our Turkish hotel colleagues or ship owners,” he said.

The new Board of Directors of the Rhodes Hotel Association.

Papavasiliou also highlighted three challenges that hoteliers are called to face: green transition (prioritizing the sustainability of hotel businesses), digital transition (catching up with the times and embracing new technologies) and labor transition (attracting and training new employees).

Moreover, he said the association will look to reinstate the reduced VAT rates for the Dodecanese islands.

The association’s newly-elected Board of Directors is as follows:

President: Ioannis Papavasiliou
General Secretary: Konstantinos Kallioudakis
1st Vice President: Athinagoras Konstantinidis
2nd Vice President: Nikolaos Geronikolas
3rd Vice President: Panagiotis Hatzilazarou
Vice President of Sustainability: Konstantinos Minettos
Vice President of Finance and Labor: Thomas Svyriadis
Treasurer: Apostolos Kolegiannis
Director of Public Relations: Paraskevi Chrysochoidis
Members: Georgios Georgallidis, Nikolaos Kapetanakis, Pantelis Kostaridis, Manolis Markopoulos, Stavros Mitsis, Alexandros Passalis and Yiannis Hatzis