Trade Associations

The tour guide profession in Greece will soon be liberalized in accordance to Greece’s European obligations, Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni announced today, 26 March, following a meeting with German Federal Deputy Labor Minister Hans-Joachim Fuchtel on tourism education issues. The tour guide profession in Greece is considered one of the country’s so-called “closed professions.”

Greece’s tourism education is planned to be linked with the country’s labor market through a pilot internship program that has been successfully applied in Germany and other countries such as Portugal and Spain, according to an announcement made today, 26 March, by Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni.

The City of Athens recently organized the first round of consultation meetings with agencies and investors within the framework of the actions of the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency (EATA) to support entrepreneurship and the technological competitiveness of businesses in Athens.

The Hellenic Association of Travel & Tourist Agencies (HATTA) and the German Travel Association (DRV) will hold a meeting in Athens today, Tuesday, 26 March, to discuss issues concerning the development of incoming tourism from the German market to Greece.

“The Greek-Russian cooperation in the tourism sector is successful and profitable and is rapidly growing for tourism businesses operating in both countries,” Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said in a speech today to Russian journalists in Athens.

The cooperation between Greece and Germany on education and training for young people and the unemployed in the tourism industry will be the topic of discussion next week in a meeting in Athens between Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni and German Federal Deputy Labor Minister Hans-Joachim Fuchtel.

HAPCO has entered a partnership agreement with Dutch technology company, Azavista, and will have complimentary access to live international market data that can facilitate the cost effective planning of their congresses and events.

“Greece is a favorite destination for Russians… The cooperation between the Greek and Russian tourism ministries is expected to lead to a large increase in incoming tourism from Russia to Greece,” the Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism of the Russian Federation Alexander Rad’kov said recently during a meeting with Greek Secretary General of Tourism Anastasios Liaskos in Moscow.

The Hellenic Chamber of Hotels applauded the joint initiatives launched recently by Athens International Airport (AIA) and Aegean Airlines that aim to boost tourism in Athens and have a beneficial outcome for Greece’s entire tourism industry this year.

Scheduled demolitions of constructions erected illegally on the coast of Crete have been postponed until the end of the summer, according to Greek press reports.