Trade Associations

Tourism enterprises eligible for the Third Community Support Framework subsidy cycle include small to mid-sized C, D and E class hotels, as well as B class hotels with a capacity of up to 125 beds. Also eligible are C and D class camping grounds, and furnished rooms, apartments and houses rented to tourists. Proposals also will be considered from travel agencies, businesses arranging tourist transportation, ship charters and ferry bookings, as well as businesses operating marinas, conference centers, ski resorts, and sea and mineral water spas.

A new program called Allways Tourism is being developed to improve the quality and services of Greek travel agencies so they can compete more effectively in the international market. The program will focus on continuing education for employees, business development, improving the work environment and reducing regional inequality through information technology (market place, e-learning).

Chinese tourism to Greece has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years. Local tourism professionals estimate an even stronger rise for the immediate future, provided a few basic measures are initiated. They remind that European countries have begun a race to attract as many Chinese tourists as possible after the agreement between the EU and China that allows the Chinese to travel freely in the community.

The Hellenic Investment Center succeeded in freeing nine investment proposals, valued at 872.5 million euros, from bureaucratic deadlock. Four of these investment project proposals are for tourism enterprises.

There will be little or no delay in Greece’s new tourism legislation, according to the outgoing tourism development minister, Dimitris Avramopoulos. He said the only thing missing from the new legislation is the signature of Greece’s health minister, and “being the country’s new health minister I will rectify that quickly.”

Greece continues to lose ground as a preferred tourism destination. In 2004, Greece placed 16th as a tourism destination choice worldwide, a drop from 13th in 2002, according to the findings of a recent study titled, “The Challenge of Competitiveness and Redefining Greek Tourism Product Placement,” which was carried out by the Association of Greek Tourist Enterprises.

The third cycle of financial support for small and mid-sized businesses in the manufacturing and tourism sector gets underway this month. The appropriate papers have been signed by the ministries of economy and tourism, and details have been published in the Government Gazette. The subsidies are part of the Regional Businesses Program.

Greece’s tourism ministry says it is working to set up a special agency to provide it’s 13 million foreign tourists each year with quality legal coverage while in Greece.

The annual success of the tourism sector depends on systematic groundwork and sound preparation, according to the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises.

Athens hotel occupancy rates last year remained at 2004 levels but the average price per room fell more than 15 percent, according to a recent report by the Attica Hoteliers’ Association.