Trade Associations

The profile of today’s visitor and ways of approaching the Greek tourist were analyzed last month in Chalkidiki at a workshop organized by the Hellenic Hotels Federation and the Halkidiki Hotel Association.

Tourism Minister Kostas Markopoulos recently met with representatives from the Panhellenic Association of the Blind, the Panhellenic Association of Kidney Transplants, the Panhellenic Union of Paraplegics and Physically Challenged and the National Confederation of Disabled People and was informed of the difficulties the disabled come across in regards to tourism services.

The effectiveness of the development models of the economy will be analyzed at the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises’ eighth annual Tourism and Development conference scheduled for 19-20 October.

Tourism Minister Kostas Markopoulos held a meeting today with the Commissioner to the United Arab Emirates Embassy Adel Al Marjouki and agreed to sign a tourism cooperation memorandum between the two countries in regards to transport and investment.

Tourism Minister Kostas Markopoulos recently announced that students of the Organization of Tourism Education and Training (OTEK) vocational schools (IEK) will be exempt from tuition fees for the 2009-2010 period.

The Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) is preparing a study on the development of “Greek Gastronomy” as a product and its integration in the tourism marketing plan of Greece.

Tourism Minister Kostas Markopoulos recently claimed to be optimistic in regards to the direction of where this year’s tourism season is headed. For the first time he estimated that there would not be a double-digit percentage decline in arrivals from abroad.

The tourism industry’s role amid the current global economic crisis was discussed in Brussels recently at the European Union Competitiveness Council. The discussion was set up by the initiative of the Greek government.

Representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently announced that it would regularly include an assessment of the Greek tourism performance in its future scheduled visits.

The Greek National Tourism Organization recently presented its new portal www.myGNTO.gr through which it aspires to convert electronic visits into actual tourist arrivals to Greece.