General Events & Happenings

A crew from CNN India recently visited Greece, in cooperation with Amphitrion Holidays, to shoot a travelogue for the CNN television series “The Road less Travelled.” The Indian journalists explored Athens and visited Delphi, the Ossios Lucas Monastery, Arachova, Mykonos, Rodos, Patmos and Ancient Ephesus from Kusadasi. Indian Television Presenter and Series Producer Iram Mirza and acclaimed Cameraman Arul Prakasam were part of the crew. The Athenaeum Intercontinental, Louis Hellenic Cruises and Santa Marina Hotels in Arachova and Mykonos hosted the television crew during their one-week tour of Greece and many of the meals provided and the guided tours in the archeological sites in Athens and Delphi were courtesy of the Greek National Tourism Organization.

Greece handed the Olympic flame to China, the host of the 2008 Games, on March 30 at Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens. Beijing Games Organizing Chief and Beijing Communist Party Secretary Liu Qi received the flame and said: “In 130 days the 2008 Beijing Olympics begin and we and the other nations of the world look forward to this moment.”

The tourism development ministry announced it would take part in the European Commissions’ “European Destinations of Excellence” (EDEN) pilot project for a second-year-running.

Athens officially announced it would host the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games planned for June 25th to July 4th. Present at the event held at Athens Concert Hall were President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias, members of the Greek parliament, 38 ambassadors to Greece as well as athletes and supporters of the Special Olympics movement. The World Games are expected to unite some 7,500 athletes from more than 170 countries.

Danae Tezapsidou and Vassilis Mesitidis are the two young Greeks in the team of cyclists that will attempt the bike ride from Ancient Olympia to Beijing via the Silk Road in order to mark the 2008 Olympic Games in China. The ride began from ancient Olympia last month and participants hope to arrive in the Chinese capital on August 8 for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics after covering a distance of some 12,000 kilometers.

Eleven-year-old Gerasimos Kavalieratos was the Greek representative amongst the 13 children from around the world who participated in British Airway’s second Kids’ Council at the airline’s headquarters in Waterside, London. The council, made up of children aged eight to 14, is a British Airways initiative aimed to improve the airline’s services to passengers in this age group.

More than 60 hearts sponsored by the business community and painted or sculptured by established or upcoming artists and eminent local personalities have been strategically displayed in specific locations around the city of Athens and will remain there until the 19th of March. The fiberglass, metal and wooden hearts grace several Metro stations, Syntagma Square and Ermou Avenue, Technopolis and many other key points so that according to the organizers, “We can admire them, we can love them, we can judge them, we can touch them and they will touch us with their sensitivity and their messages; strolling by, we will fancy them, we will stop to take a picture of them and we will look for them throughout the city.”

Distinguished historical hotel group Yades Heritage & Hospitality announced its aim to enhance its presence in Greece and abroad through a series strategic moves that would promote the unique characteristics of its members.

Continental Airlines recently organized a familiarization trip to New York for 12 representatives of Greek travel agencies. The aim of the trip was the complete familiarization of the agents of all the stages of the airline’s services to passengers, which, according to airline representatives, have increased since the direct flight Athens-New York was launched earlier this year.

The recent visit to China by Tourism Development Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos has bore fruit, as several steps have been taken to unify Greece and China in their aim to promote bilateral tourism interests. During the recent visit, his first visit as tourism development minister, Mr. Spiliotopoulos met with Beijing Vice-Mayor Ding Xing Yang, and they officially announced that Greece would be the country of honor at the cultural festival that would take place in June 2008, a month before the official opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing.