Trade Associations

“The permanent return of the Parthenon marbles to the new Acropolis Museum remains the steadfast demand of the Greek state and of the Culture Ministry,” a Culture and Tourism Ministry spokesman told the Greek media last month while rejecting a report of UK newspaper “The Times” that suggested Greece was dropping its claim over the Parthenon marbles.

“Everyone visiting the museums in the future will receive the best service,” Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos promised recently as he outlined the ministry’s three-year plan to upgrade services to archaeological sites and museums.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry’s aim is to create an international conference center in the Tae Kwon Do facility and establish Athens as a potential destination for international conferences every month of the year, according to a press release of the ministry.

Crime in Athens’ city center continues to give the Greek capital the image of an unattractive destination although Athens has the potential to be featured among the most popular metropolitan destinations in Europe, the president of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, Yiorgos Tsakiris, recently told the Greek press.

Owners of small hotel units will be excused from the insurance obligation to the Self-Employed Workers’ Insurance Organization (OAEE), Alternate Labor and Social Insurance Minister Yiorgos Koutroumanis recently assured the president of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, Yiorgos Tsakiris. Legislation on the matter should be tabled in early 2011.

Hotel occupancy in October 2010 may have dropped 4.4 percent, compared with the same month in 2009, but it was considered an improve­ment as in September 2010 the hotel room occupancy rate was down 9.2 percent, according to the Athens-Attica Hotel Association.

The Greek government places great importance on the tourism sector as it can help the country survive the economic crisis, Deputy Tourism and Culture Minister George Nikitiadis told journalists during his visit last month to the global meetings and events exhibition EIBTM in Barcelona, Spain.

The Infrastructures, Transports and Networks Ministry announced last month its intention to establish waterways in Greece and attract seaplane companies to strengthen the transport of Greece’s border areas.

The Greek Government will cooperate with low-cost airlines and provide every possible facility on a business level, Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister George Nikitiadis said in a recent meeting with 18 representatives of international low-cost airlines.

The “Tourism for All” program failed to achieve the desired results in the effort to develop the country’s domestic tourism, according to the final report of the Inspectors-Controllers Body for Public Administration in regards to the materialization of the 2006-2009 state-subsidized social tourism program.