Laws, Regulations & Policies

Greek tourism would get a boost if visa procedures for entry permits to Greece are less complicated, agreed Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos and Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas in a recent meeting.

Cabotage restrictions must be lifted immediately so foreign-flag cruise ships could use Greek harbors as homeports by 2011, President of the Greek Shipowners’ Association for Passenger Ships Markos Foros stressed during a press conference last month.

The increase of the Value Added Tax to 15 percent would be disastrous for Greek tourism, the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) said recently in response to conflicting statements made by government officials in regards to the possible imposition of a single VAT rate of 15 percent for all products and services.

The government’s excuse for lifting the hunting ban in favor of protecting small hotels and related businesses is worthy of mockery, the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature recently said in an announcement.

A proposal that involves passenger rights for bus and coach transport was adopted at the European Union Council of Transport Ministers held in December in Brussels. The proposal aims to strengthen the rights of bus and coach passengers that travel on international and long-distance lines.

Greece is soon expected to obtain visa waiver status as it is considered only a matter of time to join the United States’ Visa Waiver Program (VWP), according to Europolitics, European affairs daily updated website.

The current European Union law on package travel—the Package Travel Directive—was drawn up in 1990 and is no longer suited for today’s travel market and will be renewed, E.U. Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva recently announced at a press conference in Brussels.

Professional yachts will be exempt from the extraordinary tax and annual special tax on yachts, inflicted by the previous government, by April 2010, according to Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping Minister Louka Katseli.

The increase of the sojourn tax—imposed on hotels and other private businesses that operate in tourist regions by local governments—is unconstitutional and without substantial benefit, said the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels.

It is not rational for marine tourism to be taxed differently than other tourism sectors especially in the time of crisis, Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping Minister Louka Katseli recently said.