Trade Associations

The Association of Greek Archaeologists has issued a statement in response to a recent article published in TIME magazine that suggests for Greece to turn over its treasures to private companies to protect them from the economic crisis.

It seems that the Hellenic Federation of Hoteliers’ proposal for the Greek Government to establish a new annual school holiday period so families could take a vacation during the winter, will temporarily be put on ice.

The value-added tax (VAT) charged on Greek passenger ferry tickets may be reduced soon, according to an announcement made by Merchant Marine Minister Militadis Varvitsiotis.

The Athens-Attica & Argosaronikos Hotel Association applauded the recent announcement made by Ryanair on the creation of hubs in Athens and Thessaloniki.

“Greece is a safe and welcoming destination,” Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said to the presidents of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA), the American Hellenic Institute (AHI) and the Conference of Presidents of the Major Jewish Organizations (CoP).

The president of the Hellenic Federation of Hoteliers, Yiannis Retsos, presented the federation’s full proposal for a new annual vacation period for Greek schools, in a meeting with Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni and Education Minister Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos.

Greek schools may take a few extra days off this March as the ministries of Tourism and Education are working together to establish an annual “Ski Week,” a four-day vacation period for schools, aimed to boost domestic tourism.

“Greece is a perfectly safe country for all visitors,” Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni told foreign journalists covering EU affairs, during a press conference at the Zappeion Megaron in Athens.

The Greek Government and tourism professionals are seeing eye to eye on the importance of tourism for the country’s economy, according to the outcome of a meeting that took place at the Maximos Mansion.

A new collective labor agreement for hotel employees in Greece has been signed between the Hellenic Federation of Hoteliers and the federation that represents Greek hotel workers (POEE-YTE).