MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions)

The government’s goal is the preservation and support of Greece’s tourism product’s potential and everyone should aim to transform the global crisis into a national opportunity, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis said during the 17th general assembly of the Association for Greek Tourism Enterprises.

The 14th Touristiko Panorama had fewer participating exhibitors than previous years and limited activities but once again gave travel professionals the opportunity to increase business deals and meet with potential clients.

Many airport city concepts were developed and discussed at the annual “Airport Cities World Conference & Exhibition,” which took place for the first time in Athens on 27-29 April.

The economic crisis dominated this year’s general assembly of the Hellenic Association of Travel and Tourist Agencies that recently took place.

The 16th Moscow International Travel and Tourism (MITT) exhibition ran from 18-21 March in the atmosphere of the world economic crisis and analysts wondered of overall consumer demand and, first and foremost, if the demand for traveling had dropped.

Discussions that concerned the impact of the economic crisis on Greek tourism—according to conclusions from international exhibitions ITB and MITT—highlighted this year’s third International Tourism & Property Conference.

The work relations between hotel owners and appointed general managers were analyzed at the sixth Panhellenic Hotel Management Conference held recently in Athens by the Action for the Development of Tourism and Tourist Education (DRATTE).

Despite the global economic crisis the 43rd ITB Berlin travel trade show (11-15 March) saw a positive mood among exhibitors. The fair attracted some 110,000 trade visitors—42 percent from abroad—an increase of four percent from 2008.

The conference tourism market is aware of the global financial crisis, but manages to minimize its effects to a large extent, was the conclusion of the 5th Pan-Hellenic Conference for Business and Conference Tourism in Thessaloniki. The Hellenic Association of Professional Congress Organizers (HAPCO) organized the conference.

The need for Greece’s tourism policy to improve drastically was the main point of this year’s 5th International Meetings and Incentives Conference (IMIC) titled “Selling Destinations, Venues and Services: Supplier Perspectives – Buyer Demands,” which took place recently in Athens.