Destinations

The Cultural Coast of Piraeus project aims to highlight the comparative advantages of Piraeus so the city can once again become a reference point rather than simply a point of transit as it is considered today, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

Travel professionals said last month that Greeks and foreign visitors did not opt to spend their holidays in the Greek capital. According to the Athens-Attica Hotel Association, Athens recorded low bookings last December due to “the complete absence of a festive climate.”

Thessaloniki recorded the most losses in foreign arrivals and turnover during the first ten months of 2010, Aristotelis Thomopoulos, president of the Hotel Association of Thessaloniki, said recently.

“A city adds value to the professional and the creator depending on the strength of its identity and Thessaloniki must obtain a strong identity,” Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos said during an international culture and tourism forum held recently in Thessaloniki by the local Makedonia Media Group.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry’s aim is to create an international conference center in the Tae Kwon Do facility and establish Athens as a potential destination for international conferences every month of the year, according to a press release of the ministry.

Thessaloniki is scheduled to be promoted as a cruise destination through a non-profit organization soon to be established by the city’s port authority, trade association and chamber of commerce and industry, the Greek press said last month.

The city of Athens continues to attract visitors despite the serious problems experienced in 2010, according to the Athens-Attica Hotel Association’s latest study on customer satisfaction and performance of hotels in Attica. The study was presented at the association’s 41st Annual General Assembly last month at the Grande Bretagne hotel.

Nine Greek coasts, winners of the ‘Blue Flags’ international program for environmental education, information and awareness were dropped last month from the 2010 list and lost their award.

A special program to begin in Thessaloniki whereby each year a different country or region would be in the center of attention in regards to tourism and cultural issues was presented last month by Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos.

The Organization for Rhodian Tourism Promotion (PROTOUR) recently announced it would follow the example of international destinations and attempt to develop health tourism on the island and form a lucrative new source of revenue for Rodos.