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Lufthansa last month appointed Harro-Julius Petersen (center) as the airline’s new general manager for Greece and Cyprus.

Michalis Sakellis has been elected president of the Greek Shipowners Association For Passenger Ships (SEEN), following the resignation of Apostolos Ventouris last week.

Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni approved and announced the Greek National Tourism Organization’s (GNTO) new Board of Directors on Thursday 30 August, which is comprised by five lawyers, one political analyst, one doctor, one dentist and one hotelier.

Anastasios Liaskos is the new secretary general of tourism. He was born in Athens in 1957 and is an economist and business development consultant by profession.

TUI Hellas announced last month the strengthening of its management team with the appointment of Michael Mavropoulos as its new managing director.

Greece will establish its prominent position in the international gastronomic scene and introduce its cuisine, culture and traditions, as, in less than four years, Athens will be the first European city of the Mediterranean to host the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) Congress.

New Democracy head Antonis Samaras was sworn in as Greece’s prime minister last month (20 June) in a three-party coalition government following Greece’s second round of national elections on 17 June.

With Costa Cruises homeporting this summer in Heraklion (Crete), leading international cruise officials have expressed optimism in choosing the cruise destination as a homeport for non-European Union flag cruise ships now that the cabotage law has been lifted in Greece.

Tourism Professional Panagis Vassilatos recently took the reins of global online travel agent Airfasttickets as director for the Athens branch.

Although Greece in the midst of its fifth year of recession, Amadeus tells us that travel agents are not held back from pursuing online business opportunities.