Trade Associations

Destination Laconia, southeastern Peloponnese, will get extra tourism promotion through a new offline travel application for smart phones, it was revealed at the 10th annual general assembly of the Lakonia Hotels Association held recently at the Sparta Inn in Sparti.

“Unity is needed to extend the tourism season and for Greece to welcome tourists all year round,” was the message the president of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE), Andreas Andreadis, sent out during his speech at the 16th annual general assembly of the Hellenic Federation of Rented Rooms and Apartments (SEEDEE) on 14 April.

Things are looking up for Greek tourism as early bookings for this season are showing an increase of some 15-20 percent from the country’s basic markets, Greek Secretary General of Tourism Anastasios Liaskos said yesterday, 15 April, during the 16th annual general assembly of the Confederation of Greek Enterprises for Rented Villas & Apartments (SEEDDE).

“Early bookings are going very well and it gives us reason to believe that we will have a large increase in tourism to our country,” Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said in a statement today, 11 April.

“Some one million Russian tourists are expected to visit Greece this year,” the deputy head of the Federal Agency for Tourism of the Russian Federation, Evgeny Pisarevsky, said today, 11 April, during a meeting with Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni in Athens.

A bill for the development of medical tourism in Greece is currently being prepared by the Greek Ministries of Health and Tourism and will soon be released for public consultation, Health Minister Andreas Lykourentzos informed the Greek Parliament recently.

Greece’s absence from the US market has led the country to lose a share of tourism revenue from some 290 billion dollars, which is the amount American tourists spend on their holidays annually, according to the Hellenic-American Chamber of Tourism.

Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni departed today, 4 April, for London to further boost tourist flows from the UK to Greece just before the start of the new season, a press release said.

The opening of a direct air route from Beijing to Athens to attract more Chinese tourists to Greece was one of the main issues promoted by Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis during his recent visit to China.

“The time has come for the recovery of Greek tourism,” the president of the Hellenic Association of Travel & Tourist Agencies (HATTA), Yiorgos Telonis, said while opening the association’s annual general assembly on Wednesday, 27 March, in Athens.