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The Hellenic Association of Travel and Tourism Services recently hosted an annual event by members of the board and the association’s air matters committee in honor of the airline industry. Representatives from airline companies and distribution companies (CRS) as well as members of tourism and the travel media attended the event.

Amadeus, a leading provider of solutions to the travel industry for the management of distribution and selling of travel services, recently held an event in Athens where results from research revealed the Internet and new technology hold many opportunities for Greek travel agencies. Hermes Management Consulting conducted the study on behalf of Amadeus.

Politicians from all over the world, including Greece, met in Bali, Indonesia, between December 3 and 14 for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. At the conference, secretary general of the World Tourism Organization, Francesco Frangialli, committed the tourism sector to the common cause of climate change response, and linked it closely with the fight against poverty.

The second Tourism & Property Show, organized by media network group Real Travel, is to be held on the 22nd to 24th of this month in Athens, at the Fencing Hall of the Hellenikon Exhibition Center (former West Airport).

The world-renowned cruise ship “Queen Elizabeth 2” recently set sail from Southampton for its last voyage around the world. The cruise ship “Queen Victoria” that is on its maiden voyage and will replace the Queen Elizabeth 2 in due course escorts the cruise ship on its final voyage.

Louis Hellenic Cruises, the operator of the ferry “Sea Diamond” that sunk off the coast of Santorini last April, claims it has successfully completed the cleanup operation in the area near the site of the accident. In its official announcement, the company claims, “The cleanup operation left the beaches in a cleaner state than before the accident took place,” and has consequently halted the operation.

Some 100,000 Greek tourists picked Cyprus as their holiday destination in the first three quarters of 2007. According to official statistics presented by the Cyprus Tourism Organization (CTO), there was 15 percent more tourism movement from Greece to Cyprus during this period compared with the same period in 2006. This places the Greek market in the third place after the British and Russia market.

The thirty-ninth international tourism industry exhibition Xenia was recently held in Athens under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism Development and the Greek National Tourism Organization, and was sponsored by Aegean Airlines.

World Travel Market 2007 proved a great success and “broke all records,” according to the organizer, who recently revealed un-audited figures. WTM is a four-day travel industry event held in London annually, which brings together worldwide buyers and sellers from every sector of the industry. The four-day event is organized by Reed Exhibitions, one of the world’s leading organizers of exhibitions and conferences.

Azamara Cruises recently added the refurbished cruise ship Azamara Quest to its fleet, which will conduct cruises in the Mediterranean with Pireaus as the port of embarkation or disembarkation, from June to November 2008.