Greece’s Philoxenia Show Draws in the Crowds – Photo Report by GTP

TIF-Helexpo: Philoxenia 2014 recorded a 54% increase in visitors

“We aim for Philoxenia to become the big ‘celebration’ of the tourism industry once again,” TIF-Helexpo President Tasos Tzikas said at the event’s opening ceremony.

This year’s Philoxenia event, held 13-16 November, attracted a record number of attendees, recording a 54 percent increase of participants compared to last year and demonstrating the event’s dynamic penetration of the international market, organizer TIF-Helexpo said.

A total of 14,281 visitors from 23 countries attended the 30th Philoxenia, one of the largest tourism sector shows in southeast Europe, and the parallel Hotelia events at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center.

According to the organizer, 12,074 people attended Philoxenia and 2,207 Hotelia, which this year was a separate event. The number of trade visitors came to 4,718 compared to 2,665 in 2013 – a 77 percent increase. A total of 495 trade visitors participated in Hotelia.

Highlights

Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni and TIF-Helexpo President Tasos Tzikas.

A major highlight at this year’s Philoxenia was the memorandum of cooperation signed between the Tourism Ministry and the exhibition’s organizer and Greece’s national exhibition body, TIF-Helexpo. According to the memorandum, the two bodies will jointly participate in international exhibitions abroad to promote Thessaloniki.

In the meantime, the “Destination Thessaloniki” conference, organized by the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) and the Thessaloniki Convention Bureau (TCB), aiming to highlight Thessaloniki’s infrastructure and its prospects of becoming a leading MICE (Meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) destination, offered the chance to southeastern European cities to share their experiences and paved the way for collaborations with Thessaloniki.

Key attraction of this year’s Hotelia was the Dpoint Hotel Village, an original village setting where the latest in furniture, decoration and design as well as hotel equipment was exhibited in a show titled “The Future of Hotel & Restaurant Design”.

Parallel events

Other parallel events held during this year’s Philoxenia included the annual awarding of the best travel agency brochures and websites by the Hellenic Association of Travel and Tourist Agencies (HATTA); the Hellenic Hotel Federation’s annual council of hotel associations; a presentation of Mouzenidis Group; a presentation of Zorpidis Travel Services on the occasion of the company’s 40th anniversary; a cook show organized by the Hotel Owners Association of Magnesia; and a press conference given by the Halkidiki Tourism Organization.

Particular attention was also given to the development of tourism in the central Macedonia area with several events organized by the Macedonia-Thrace Hotel Managers Association and the Region of East Macedonia-Thrace.

Another highlight at this year’s Philoxenia was an after-exhibition party held at “Savoy” by Travelport and the Macedonia-Thrace Travel Agents Association for professionals of the Northern Greek travel industry.

Exhibitors @ Philoxenia 2014

The stand of Thessaloniki-based Grand Hotel Palace and Mediterranean Palace Hotel had a very impressive setting.

Greek destinations @ Philoxenia 2014

Moments @ Philoxenia 2014

“Savoy” in Thessaloniki – Travelport hosted an event with the Macedonia-Thrace Travel Agents Association for the Northern Greek travel industry, on the sidelines of the 30th Philoxenia exhibition.

For full coverage on Philoxenia 2014, press here.