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Singapore Airlines will cease routes to Athens as of 26 October 2012 due to “sustained weak performance,” the Greek travel industry was informed last month. This was just the most recent hit as many carriers have already announced plans to stop direct flights to the Greek capital.

The privatization process of regional airports was presented last month during the seventh “Aviation: Present and Future” conference held at the Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Ministry in Athens.

“I believe Greece deserves more attention, especially currently, because it has an immense touristic potential,” Amadeus Vice President of the Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern Europe (NECSE) region Petra Euler, told GTP in May, within the framework of the company’s 2012 NECSE Management Meeting.

The Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), foreign tour operators and Greek expatriates have launched a series of initiatives aimed to restore the country’s image internationally and reverse the negative trends that have affected bookings in Greece so far.

A 30-percent-drop forecast for bookings was made last month for this tourism season by Greek tourism professionals, during a workshop held by Germany’s leading travel industry media group FVW Mediengruppe in Athens.

Athens was selected to host the 37th World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) Congress in May 2016. This will be the first time the international congress will be held in a European city.

Greece ranked 100th place in its global competitiveness compared to the 101st position the previous year, according to the results of the annual World Bank Group “Doing Business Report 2012” announced recently.

The Mytilene Marina, southern east area of the island of Lesvos, has been leased to Setur, the travel unit of Istanbul-based Koc Holding AS, after it won a government auction in Greece last month.

State museums and archaeological sites in Greece continued to operate in accordance to the winter schedule (8am-3pm) last month despite an announcement made by the Culture and Tourism Ministry for a temporary summertime schedule to take effect until June.

European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship Antonio Tajani recently underlined the importance of providing support to small and medium-sized Greek enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism sector.