Trade Associations

Early bookings to Greece from the UK and Germany for next year’s tourism season are up some 20 percent while competing countries such as Turkey and Spain are on the same levels as last year, the president of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE), Andreas Andreadis, said on Friday, 21 December, while addressing Greek journalists at the association’s 2012 overview.

Greece will receive know-how from France in regards to tourism issues, according to a cooperation protocol signed in Paris on Tuesday, 18 December, between Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni and the general manager of the French Tourism and Development Agency ATOUT FRANCE, Christian Mantei.

During its EU Presidency in the first half of 2014, Greece will promote a waiver of the visa obligation for Russian nationals that have a biometric passport, Public Order and Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Dendias said on Monday, 17 December, during his visit in Moscow.

Greece and France discussed the possibility of developing joint tourism programs between the two countries, yesterday, Monday, 17 December, the Greek Tourism Ministry reported.

“Today, we welcome the symbolic arrival of the one-billionth tourist,” UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, said today, Thursday, 13 December 2012. One billion tourists have traveled the world in 2012, marking a new record for international tourism.

A new era of cooperation will soon launch between the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) and Greek taxis, an indispensable link in the Greek tourism chain.

“We are forming a new development model at the Tourism Ministry, one that will support the leading role of tourism in the economy,” the general secretary of tourism, Anastasios Liaskos, said while addressing a group of European journalists at an event held yesterday, Tuesday, 11 December, at the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

The Association of European Airlines (AEA), the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) and the International Air Carrier Association (IACA) today, Monday, 10 December, called on the European Parliament to increase competition in the ground handling market to benefit operators and increase the quality of services for passengers.

The launch of a Greek-German cooperation to link tourism education with the Greek labor market for students to be absorbed directly by the tourism industry was discussed in a meeting, yesterday, 7 December, between Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni and Germany’s federal deputy labor minister, Hans-Joachim Fuchtel*.

Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni referred to key actions for a unified and effective tourism policy during her speech on the strategic plan for the country’s tourism development at the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce 23rd annual conference “The Greek Economy: State Reform-The Cornerstone for Investment and Development,” held yesterday, 4 December.