Trade Associations

Although formed just better than a year ago, the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau, or Athens CVB, is just now getting down to the nitty gritty with regards to enticing conferences to the capital. (The Athens Olympics Organizing Committee kept it busy handling a mounting backlog of accommodation queries for the August Games.)

The government says it’s in the process of drawing up plans to improve the picture and operation of ports and airports with a view to bolstering the tourism, Deputy Tourism Development Minister Anastassios Liaskos told a recent international conference on transport and technology and their contribution to the tourism industry.

For the month of August at least, hotels in the general and greater Athens region managed to do well with their average occupancy rate hitting 95% during the Olympic Games, says the Attica Hoteliers’ Association.

Greece’s Premier outlined numerous development strategies, many of which center on the tourism sector, in his speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair last month. He said his government would give first priority to policies that concern the countryside, and mountain and island areas Greece.

The Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises last month urged the government to go ahead immediately with tourism-related infrastructure projects throughout the country, infrastructure works on the same scale as seen in Athens over the past several years.

Attica Hotel Association President Yiannis Tsakiris, during a press call last month, said a letter signed by all the tourism industry’s associations, which calls for the designation of one of the Olympic installations as Attica’s major conference and exhibition center, has been sent to Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Tourism Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos.

Red tape, leading to delays and the disappointment of investors, has lead to less-than-expected investment in the Greek tourism sector over the past years. But now Economy and Finance Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis and Tourism Development Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, say the Greek government is now willing to offer substantial incentives in order to attract investment in the tourism sector.

Tourism Development Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos said last month that Greek tourism would enter “a new dynamic phase” after the Olympics, mainly by tapping the potential offered by the considerably improved infrastructure and the image of the country. He said tourism would take off in the next few months with a strategy to become the cornerstone of overall national economic development.

Tourism Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos called Greece’s tourism leaders to a double launch and a reception last month at Zappeio Hall. The minister presented tourism promotion plans for after the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, and the new tourism exhibition stands within Zappeio (Olympic press center) created especially for officials and journalists here for the Games.

Four Greek ministries (tourism, economy, foreign affairs, public order), along with private-sector tourism organization representatives, met last month to discuss the tourism visa problems encountered by potential visitors to Greece, and how best to solve these problems.