Trade Associations

The Hellenic Chamber of Hotels recently held its final meeting for 2007 in the presence of Tourism Development Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos and the political leadership of the Greek National Tourism Organization.

The Attica Hotel Association recently announced the statistics on hotel occupancy for November 2007, and claims “tourism traffic during the holiday period showed neither positive nor encouraging results and remains stagnant.”

Tourism Development Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos has initiated contracts with 97 Vocational Training Centers (K.E.K) throughout Greece for the training of some 8,000 employees of the tourism sector with the aim of improving and upgrading respective skills and knowledge.

The International Air Transport Association recently launched www.iatatravelcentre.com, a new portal to inform passengers and offer personalized advice for travel planning and trip preparation.

A meeting was held recently, headed by Minister for Mercantile Marine and Island Policy Georgios Voulgarakis, to discuss the necessary measures that must be taken to protect the environment in lieu of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project.

The recent visit to China by Tourism Development Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos has bore fruit, as several steps have been taken to unify Greece and China in their aim to promote bilateral tourism interests. During the recent visit, his first visit as tourism development minister, Mr. Spiliotopoulos met with Beijing Vice-Mayor Ding Xing Yang, and they officially announced that Greece would be the country of honor at the cultural festival that would take place in June 2008, a month before the official opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

The Hellenic Hotel Federation (POX) recently completed and submitted to the Greek National Tourism Organization, a study for the construction of boutique hotels. The study consists of prerequisites for the infrastructure and services of boutique hotels as defined by international standards but with Greek characteristics in mind.

The Hellenic Association of Travel and Tourist Agencies recently expressed its satisfaction as Greek consumers show increasing trust in travel agencies and the holiday packages they offered during the festive season.

The International Air Transport Association reported that the results of its 2007 corporate air travel survey showed that passengers overwhelmingly saw value in new technologies to simplify the travel process. Some 10,000 travelers participated in the survey, which revealed that not only are passengers accepting high-tech travel options, but also demand even more opportunities to take control of their travel experience.

The Association of Greek Tourist Enterprises recently held its sixth conference entitled “The dynamics of changes in world tourism; how do they effect us? What is our reaction?”