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“Working in international travel and tourism at the moment is certainly no holiday for many of us,” World Travel Market’s Chairman Fiona Jeffery said during her opening speech at the tourism fair at ExCel in London, UK, held this year 8-11 November.

The Infrastructures, Transports and Networks Ministry announced last month its intention to establish waterways in Greece and attract seaplane companies to strengthen the transport of Greece’s border areas.

Thessaloniki is scheduled to be promoted as a cruise destination through a non-profit organization soon to be established by the city’s port authority, trade association and chamber of commerce and industry, the Greek press said last month.

The Piraeus Port Authority will proceed to a full upgrade of its services in 2011 in order for international cruise companies to respond in 2012 to the lifting of the cabotage restrictions for non-European Union-flag cruise ships, the port’s president and CEO, Yiorgos Anomeritis, told the Greek press last month.

“A new day is beginning for sea cruise and the country,” Maritime Affairs, Islands and Fisheries Minister Yiannis Diamantidis said in reference to the lifting of cabotage restrictions for non-European Union-flag cruise ships.

The city of Athens continues to attract visitors despite the serious problems experienced in 2010, according to the Athens-Attica Hotel Association’s latest study on customer satisfaction and performance of hotels in Attica. The study was presented at the association’s 41st Annual General Assembly last month at the Grande Bretagne hotel.

The 42nd Xenia exhibition (26-29 November) will host the food event “Kalimera! with taste” at the Metropolitan Expo center at Athens International Airport.

Travelport, one of the world’s leading global distribution system providers, recently signed a five-year full content agreement for Galileo and Worldspan-connected users worldwide with Kenya Airways. The agreement enables users to gain access to the airline’s full inventory of flights and fares, including web fares.

The situation of the Greek economy is improving but there still is a long way to go and therefore no excuse for complacency, Bank of Greece Governor Yiorgos Provopoulos said last month at the welcome dinner of the ninth annual tourism and development conference of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE).

Prime Minister George Papandreou signed 13 agreements last month in Athens with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that cover sectors of shipping, commerce, culture and tourism. This was the first official visit to Greece by a Chinese head of state in 24 years.