Destinations

Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos said last month that Greece was interested in attracting visitors from the so-called BRIC countries such as China, India, Russia and Turkey.

The Kalymnos Hoteliers Association together with the Municipality of Kalymnos and the Free Diving Association of Thessaloniki are organizing this year the Skandalopetra* Freediving Games 20-24 July on Kalymnos in the Dodekanissos complex.

The Mayor of Athens has embraced the Athens Every Week program and contributes to the tourism policy of the Culture and Tourism Ministry, part of which is the development of urban centers to city break destinations, according to the Greek National Tourism Organization’s secretary general, Yiorgos Koletsos.

“We intend to highlight the elements of the city that remain attractive and interest Greek and foreign visitors, which contribute to the upgrading of the tourism experience in Athens and bring immediate benefits to the local economy,” the president of the Athens Tourism and Economic Development Company (ATEDCo), Yiorgos Broulias, said last month.

Prime Minister George Papandreou chaired a Cabinet meeting last month after a week of street violence occurred in an Athens city district and announced a series of measures aimed to revamp the Greek capital’s historic center.

May: 2-8 Athens Museums Week • 9-15 Athens Art Week • 16-22 Athens Theatre Week • 23-30 Athens Dance Week • 30 May-5 June Athens Rainbow Week.

Athens Mayor George Kaminis held a meeting last month with Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos at City Hall and discussed opportunities for the development of tourism in the Greek capital, according to a press release issued by the ministry.

Irish low cost carrier Ryanair will connect Thessaloniki with four European destinations within the framework of its cooperation with the Thessaloniki Tourism Organization, Ryanair’s Sales and Marketing Executive Director Ida Buonanno said recently in Thessaloniki.

The average occupancy rate of hotels in Thessaloniki last year showed a decline of 13 percent compared to 2009 thus closing 2010 at 42 percent, the president of the Thessaloniki Hotels Association, Aristotelis Thomopoulos, said last month during the association’s annual pita cutting ceremony.

One in three tourists who visited Spain from October 2009 until April 2010, participating in the Europe Senior Tourism project subsidized by the Spanish government, were from Greece, according to Javier Bustamante, president of tourism and innovation company Segittur.