Laws, Regulations & Policies

The Hellenic Chamber of Hotels last month re-submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security to reform and take on the subsidized social tourism holiday programs of the abolished Workers’ Welfare Organization (OEE).

The visa facilitation pilot program launched in June that allows non-European Union citizens to enter Greece from Turkey and visit five Greek Eastern Aegean islands without a visa from a Greek consulate was said last month to be making big progress.

The VAT rate on food catering services will be reduced once the Greek economy’s fiscal sector is stabilized, Deputy Finance Minister George Mavraganis said in Parliament on Friday, 31 August.

“A solution to the bankruptcies of airlines is vital,” the Hellenic Association of Travel and Tourist Agencies (HATTA) said last month citing a statement released by the European Travel Agents and Tour Operators Associations (ECTAA), whose members include HATTA, in regards to the bankruptcy of Spanair and Malev.

The Tourism Ministry will seek cooperation with other ministries to upgrade Greece’s regional airports and increase Athens airport’s competitiveness, according to Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni.

“The improvement of public safety is a prerequisite for tourism development especially in the historic center of the capital but also more widely throughout Athens,” Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said in late July after a meeting with Public Order and Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Dendias.

The re-establishment of the new Tourism Ministry in June was welcomed by the vast majority of Greek tourism professionals who are expecting a series of chronic issues to be solved by the new leadership.

Last year, while representing the main opposition of the Greek Government, today’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras promised a room full of hoteliers (during the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels’ first general meeting) that once in government, the New Democracy party would go ahead with 10 priorities for Greek tourism.

The simplification of the procedure for issuing Schengen visas to increase the inflow of tourists to Greece and the protection of the country’s image via crisis management, were two priorities on the agenda of Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni last month.

“While recognizing the sovereign right of States to control the entry of foreign nationals, we will work towards developing travel facilitation initiatives in support of job creation, quality work, poverty reduction and global growth,” according to the Leaders’ Declaration from the annual meeting of the G20 held 18-19 June in Los Cabos, Mexico.