Destinations

Thessaloniki will show its sports tourism potential next summer, as it will host the 12th FIMBA World Maxibasketball Championship, scheduled for 12-21 July 2013. The event will be held under the auspices of the Greek National Tourism Organization.

The need for cooperation between organizations, museums and institutions to achieve the better promotion of Thessaloniki domestically and abroad was underlined at a recent tourism conference organized by the Thessaloniki Tourism Organization and the Science Center and Technology Museum Noesis.

The Tourism Ministry and the City of Athens last month said they would join forces and soon announce measures aimed for the tourism development of the Greek capital, which sees its arrivals tumbling year by year.

Greece once again ranked second place on the Blue Flag quality award list among 48 countries with seven beaches more compared to 2011, according to information provided recently by the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature.

The Monemvasia Tourism Promotion Committee recently organized a familiarization tour to Monemvasia for Greek tourism journalists and introduced them to the highlights and advantages of the municipality: a one of a kind castletown, rich history, natural beauty, gastronomic products, seaside destinations… There is no doubt that Monemvasia is an ideal destination suitable for year-round visits.

Singapore Airlines will cease routes to Athens as of 26 October 2012 due to “sustained weak performance,” the Greek travel industry was informed last month. This was just the most recent hit as many carriers have already announced plans to stop direct flights to the Greek capital.

Athens was selected to host the 37th World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) Congress in May 2016. This will be the first time the international congress will be held in a European city.

Greece ranked 100th place in its global competitiveness compared to the 101st position the previous year, according to the results of the annual World Bank Group “Doing Business Report 2012” announced recently.

State museums and archaeological sites in Greece continued to operate in accordance to the winter schedule (8am-3pm) last month despite an announcement made by the Culture and Tourism Ministry for a temporary summertime schedule to take effect until June.

State Museums and archaeological sites in Greece will operate on the temporary schedule 9:30am-5:30pm until further notice, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry. This applies to all state museums and sites except for the Acropolis that is open until 7pm.