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Pressure will be exerted on Britain internationally to return the Elgin marble collection of sculptures taken from the Parthenon, albeit in the form of a “long-term loan,” as the 2004 Olympics approach, said Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos last month.

Between 30 billion and 40 billion drachmas worth of expansion projects are planned for the Afantou area on the island of Rodos. Proposed projects include a 3-lane golf course, a hotel and auxiliary lodgings, commercial units, and a hotel marina.

Attica Enterprises, the holding company for Superfast Ferries accepted delivery of its newest ferry, the Superfast VIII, last month. This is the second of a series of four sister vessels built at Howaldtswerke shipyard in Germany and the fourth delivery from the same yard this year.

As of May 4 next year, Piraeus hosts a new cruise program by Classic International Cruises. The Lisbon-based company, Arcolia Shipping, will run seven-day cruises from here with stops at Ismir, Istanbul, Samothraki, Thessaloniki, Volos, Meteora, Santorini and Mykonos.

While sailing to the islands of Aegina and Hydra, delegates attending a conference on the new economy were told computers will never acquire common sense; therefore, humans will always be useful and necessary. Even in the next century, robots will not attain the intelligence required to compete with the human race.

A marina complex worth 9.35 billion drachmas built on the Ionian island of Lefkas began operation last month. The marina, which can berth up to 500 yachts, includes some 72 stremma of property that hosts a marine control tower, shipping club, stores, a hotel and a ship repair unit.

Greece’s coastal shipping companies say new legislation that aims to liberalize the sector and open Greek routes to competition counters free enterprise and allows for greater state intervention. They even went as far as to say the bill creates the risk of placing some companies on the brink of bankruptcy.

Hellenic Tourism Properties called on the three consortiums that had bid for 10-year concession contracts for five state-run Athens beaches to improve their offers, both in the line of the lease fees and improvement works promised.

Two major developments this year places Greece’s Blue Flag program on a much higher level than ever before.

With the recent agreement between the Chandris hotel group and the French hotel group Accor, whereby Accor takes over the management of the Chandris group, the Greek capital’s major hotels are for the most part managed by multi-national hotel units. This is in stark difference to Greek hotels outside of Athens that are family-owned and family-run units.