MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions)

The capital’s biggest and most modern exhibition center, Expo Athens, is to host this year’s Touristiko Panorama from May 4 to 7. The 32,500-square-meter complex is located at a central junction on Attiki Odos. Exit 14, heading towards Markopoulos, leads straight to the entrance of the center, while Exit 15 that cuts Messoghion Avenue leads to the Center through Anthoussa Avenue.

The recent EIBTM fair in Barcelona for meetings and incentives proved exceptional for some, and not so for others. In particular, it was not so good for 14 Greek exhibitors, including two municipalities and some of the country’s most respected tourism professionals.

The amount of business done during Philoxenia, Greece’s major tourism fair held last month in Thessaloniki, surprised most exhibitors this year. Another surprise was the traffic. Although it wasn’t evident, Helexpo, the fair’s organizer, said Philoxenia attracted 23,790 visitors, 48 percent more than in 2004. And the event hosted 696 exhibitors from 20 countries plus 15 official national participations, compared with 10 the year before.

Greek tourism is expected to record a back-to-back rise in 2006 following this year’s bumper season, which saw an estimated 10 percent increase after years of decline, according to tourism professionals who visited last month’s World Travel Market held in London.

The International Tourism Trade Fairs Association recently launched a detailed exhibition guide, entitled ‘Effective Exhibiting Made Easy’ that is aimed at helping exhibitors participate more effectively in tourism trade fairs.

Cooperation between the private sector and government proved a boon with the successful organization of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. This year’s tourism picture shows that Greece has now entered a new era. The Greek tourism sector had the red carpet of opportunity laid before it and appears to have used it properly.

The fourth annual tourism conference organized by the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises welcomed speakers from 10 countries this year. On opening the conference, the association’s president, Stavros Andreadis, said that since the last conference there has been no change in the Greek tourism product, except for Athens. He urged the hundreds of Greek delegates to work toward higher quality products.

Paricipants from across Europe joined with individuals and organizations in Greece last month to learn more about the current European Union project that centers on creating a One-stop-shop for Accessible Tourism in Europe. Athens hosted this second workshop of the OSSATE project team.

The official partner country at the International Tourism Exchange ITB Berlin from 8 to 12 March 2006 is to be Greece. The decision was announced by Dr. Martin Buck, director of travel and logistics at Messe Berlin’s Competence Center, and Panagiotis Skordas, director of the Hellenic Tourism Organization.

Amadeus executives who met in Athens last month to discuss future strategies for the company said that Greece shows a huge potential for Amadeus and it will therefore reinforce its interest in the area.