MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions)

The first promotional video that showcases the conference tourism product of Athens was launched recently by the Athens Convention Bureau (ACB) and the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency.

The need for cooperation between organizations, museums and institutions to achieve the better promotion of Thessaloniki domestically and abroad was underlined at a recent tourism conference organized by the Thessaloniki Tourism Organization and the Science Center and Technology Museum Noesis.

Following 27 years in the field of travel trade shows, Helexpo will organize this year’s Philoxenia international tourism exhibition with conference and event organizer ARTION. The aim is to highlight and establish the exhibition as the biggest tourism event in the Balkans and the wider region of Southeastern Europe.

An interest in holding international conferences in Greece has been recorded following a sudden increase in cancellations in May due to the political and economic instability of the country, Greek press reports said recently.

Greece will establish its prominent position in the international gastronomic scene and introduce its cuisine, culture and traditions, as, in less than four years, Athens will be the first European city of the Mediterranean to host the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) Congress.

“Marketing Greece,” the public-private marketing company that will aim to promote Greek tourism on an international level, will be the key topic of discussion at the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises’ (SETE) 11th tourism and development conference this autumn.

Greece’s challenges and the difficulties faced by Greek citizens and the tourism industry were among the topics analyzed at the 39th European Hotel Managers Association (EHMA) Annual General Meeting held recently in Vienna.

Greek hotels, accredited by the “Green Key” program for 2012, will be presented to seven European countries this fall via a promotional campaign scheduled to run October 2012-April 2013.

State protectionism is a stumbling block that discourages the potential growth of Greece’s sea tourism, according to heads of international cruise sector bodies, senior officials from Greece’s port authorities and cruising industry who attended the Cruise Update Seminar held on the sidelines of shipping trade event Posidonia 2012 last month.

The 23rd Posidonia International Shipping Exhibition held 4-8 June, displayed a positive image of Greece and sent a strong message to the world at large that Greek shipowning remains a strong position despite the downturn in global shipping and economic woes of southern Europe.