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Although some recent studies show that foreign visitors to Greece shy away from museums, tickets sold for entrance to museums have increased significantly. According to Archaeological Receipts and Expropriations Fund, the increase is due to museum renovations and the opening of new museums.

With the biggest non-military data base in the world, with technology investments triple that of its closest competitor, and with a dedicated staff of 100-plus nationalities, Amadeus intends to conquer any and all competition.

As of late last year, Worldspan’s ‘Rate Runner’ is available within its Go! product for travel agency office managers in Greece and includes which low cost carriers are available in Rate Runner for the markets in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland an the U.K.

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.

Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis and Attica Region Secretary General Haralambos Maniatis early last month presented the results of major surveys undertaken by the company Leo Burnett concerning the promotion of Athens and Attica tourism. For the most part, the results were very positive.

An investment group announced last month that it plans to spend, in the medium term, up to 1 billion euros in Greece, Cyprus, Croatia and Turkey to develop organized tourism accommodation complexes, mainly for northern Europeans. In Greece its interest focuses on the Peloponnese, Central Greece and the Cyclades.

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.