Trade Associations

G20 economies could boost their international tourist numbers by an additional 122 million, generate an extra $206 billion in tourism exports and create over five million additional jobs by 2015 if visa processes are improved, according to preliminary research presented on the occasion of the fourth T20 Ministers of Tourism Meeting held last month in Merida, Mexico.

Five steps are needed to support Greek tourism, SETE said prior to the country’s parliamentary elections in May.

“It is unrealistic to expect an increase in arrivals to Greece this year,” Taleb Rifai, the secretary general of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said last month during a joint press conference in Athens with Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Yeroulanos.

State Museums and archaeological sites in Greece will operate on the temporary schedule 9:30am-5:30pm until further notice, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry. This applies to all state museums and sites except for the Acropolis that is open until 7pm.

The effects of Greece’s economic crisis (pay cuts, job and pension cuts, tax hikes) coupled with increased ferry ticket prices and a 48-hour strike of seamen, was enough for many Greeks to either change their holiday plans or just stay home last month during the Easter holiday.

The Greek Government approved an amendment tabled in Parliament last month that opened the way for the establishment of a public-private marketing company for Greek tourism. The amendment was tabled by Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Yeroulanos and specifically involved a long-awaited venture between the Greek public sector and the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE).

A single brand identity, titled “Monuments and Museums of Greece” and a logo, common for all museums and monuments of Greece, was publicized last month by the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

Germany’s leading travel industry media group FVW Mediengruppe will hold its annual workshop in Athens next month and give Greek hoteliers the opportunity to discuss strategies to strengthen the tourism demand from Germany to Greece, the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels announced last month.

The Hellenic Chamber of Hotels last month submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security that aims to modernize the subsidized social tourism holiday programs—that secure domestic tourism—in an environment of free competition.

UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, last month called on the tourism sector to unite around the issue of travel facilitation as a means to stimulate demand and, as a result, create jobs.