Trade Associations

“We aim to increase the number of Chinese visitors to Greece in the coming years and for this purpose actions have already been made to simplify the process for Chinese citizens to obtain a visa to travel to Greece,” Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos said while inaugurating the Greek Tourism Week event in Shanghai, China, on 27 August.

The Manpower Employment Organization (OAED) assured the Pan-Hellenic Federation of Tourism Enterprises (GEPOET) that travel agency and tour bus staff would be included as of 2011 in its subsidy program of insurance contributions.

The challenge of adding tourism to the Greek government’s development priorities will be analyzed at the ninth annual tourism and development conference of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) scheduled for 18-19 October.

Greece has tourism parameters that Turkey cannot compete with, Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos told the Israeli press last month during an official visit to Tel Aviv, Israel, aimed at attracting Israeli tourists to Greece.

The draft bill for the compensation of tourists stranded in Greece due to extraordinary events such as strikes or natural disasters was tabled in Parliament on 24 August.

The Hellenic Association of Travel and Tourist Agencies (HATTA) appealed to the Greek government and relevant agencies last month to guarantee conditions for the rational operation of coastal shipping.

Nearly a year after PASOK socialist party came into power Prime Minister George Papandreou reshuffled his government to speed up the economic revival of Greece, which had been on the verge of bankruptcy, government spokesman Yiorgos Petalotis said last month.

Occasional hotel reviews on the TripAdvisor website with unfavorable comments that do not correspond to reality have caused problems for Greek hoteliers, according to the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels.

Tourism revenue in the Greek capital during August decreased by 14 percent following a 15 percent drop in July, Athens-Attica Hoteliers Association President Yiannis Retsos recently told Greek journalists.

The new development law in reality excludes the modernization of low class hotels, which form the backbone of the hotel industry, President of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels Yiorgos Tsakiris said last month at a media briefing.