Trade Associations

The Greek Tourism Ministry and the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) signed a memorandum of cooperation yesterday, 16 January, establishing the basis for a sustainable exchange of statistical data on tourism.

The target of 17 million tourists is achievable for this summer season but Greek tourism will continue to face serious problems and declining revenue as a result of hotel discounts and the “overpricing regime,” the president of the Hellenic Federation of Hoteliers, Yiannis Retsos, said yesterday, 17 January, in Athens.

Leading Russian tour operators and travel agents will attend a Greek-Russian tourism forum in Athens next month to further discuss ways of cooperation with the Greek tourism market, the president of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, Yiorgos Tsakiris said yesterday, 14 January.

A program of 33 individual distance learning courses in tourism administration will be held next month by the University of the Aegean by Dr. Andreas Papatheodorou, assistant professor in industrial economics with emphasis on tourism. The program is held under the auspices of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE).

“The participation of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) in social dialogue is a positive development, as it will incorporate consultation on the key sector of tourism that is expected to be one of the pillars of development recovery,” the National Confederation of Hellenic Commerce (ESEE) recently said in a statement.

The Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) will now take part in the consultation process to determine Greece’s minimum wage and the National General Collective Labor Agreement, according to an announcement made today, Tuesday, 8 January, by Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis.

Greece’s main social security fund, IKA, announced that a sealed bid public tender for the short-term (12-month) lease of the Makedonia Palace hotel in Thessaloniki, will take place on Monday, 4 February 2013.

In a significant acknowledgment of tourism as a tool for promoting sustainable development, the UN General Assembly recently unanimously adopted a resolution stressing ecotourism’s role in the fight against poverty and the protection of the environment.

Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni ordered a probe into the finances of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) after an embezzlement scam against the organization surfaced during the recent Christmas holiday.

In 2013, the reduction of the VAT rate on food catering services, from 23 percent it stands today to 13 percent, will be one of the Greek Tourism Ministry’s targeted actions to boost the competitiveness of Greece’s tourism product, the country’s Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni told the local media recently.