Trade Associations

“The General Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants of Greece has nothing to do with tourism, it does not represent tourism businesses and is obviously uninformed in regards to the situation and trends in the tourism market,” the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) said recently.

The Greek National Tourism Organization’s expenditures in the first half of the year were cut by 55 percent to some 51 million euros compared with the same period last year, the organization said last month.

Greece’s tourism revenue dropped 11.9 percent during the first six months of the year and 15.7 percent in June, according to data from the Bank of Greece.

“Our destinations are a cure for the stress and intensity of everyday life because of their close distance to Athens and Piraeus,” Piraeus Prefect Yiannis Michas said recently.

“Based on statistics presented by Eurostat, women make up 56 percent of those employed in the hotel and restaurant sector among the European Union member states… Greece ranks low with only 44 percent,” Athens Economic and Tourism Development Company (ATEDCo) President Katerina Katsabe said.

The Foreign Ministry last month announced a visa extension to Russian citizens that were on holiday in Greece and hesitant to return to their fire-stricken homeland.

Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos and Bulgarian Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Traycho Traykov signed in late July a tourism cooperation protocol during the first joint session of the Greece-Bulgaria High-Level Cooperation Council held in Sofia.

The British are invited to visit Greece and become acquainted with the country’s natural beauties, historical monuments, entertainment and modern infrastructure in a secure environment for visitors, Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister Yiorgos Nikitiadis said at the opening of the “Greek beach by the Thames” event in London.

The aim of the Tourism Promotion and Marketing Agency of the Chalkidiki Prefecture’s new office is to become the “headquarters” for the conquest of the Athenian market, Chalkidiki prefect and president of the agency, Asterios Zografos, said.

The negative climate on the attraction of tourists from the United States, following the tragic events that occurred in May with the death of four Greeks, seems to have reversed, the head of the Greek National Tourism Organization in the U.S. Chrysanthos Petsilas said last month.