GNTO to Support Athens City Center Market

Athens, Greece. Photo source: @Athens Traders Association

The Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) will collaborate with the Athens Traders Association (ESA) in its efforts to promote the center of the Greek capital and support its local market.

Following a meeting held last week between GNTO President Angela Gerekou and ESA President Stavros Kafounis, it was announced that the collaboration will include:

– Joint advertising initiatives with the use of ESA’s promotional material.
– Joint actions at the GNTO info stand in the area of the Acropolis.
– Promotional events for the summer 2021 period.

GNTO and ESA plan to meet and exchange views on a monthly basis in efforts to confront the extraordinary conditions of the city center’s market caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The meeting was also attended by ESA Director Sotiris Antoniou and members of the tourism committee Thodoros Vlaras and Yiannis Michalopoulos.

ESA: More support measures needed

Meanwhile, the Athens Traders Association recently called for more support measures for businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

ESA has called on the Greek government to:

– Subsidize 100,000 existing jobs in the market instead of creating new positions.
– Exempt companies, that suspended operations following a state order, from rent payments or reduce rent by 40 percent for six months. In both cases property owners should be subsidized accordingly.
– Allow for current financial obligations to be paid off in 48 installments with interest rate.
– Maintain the “refundable advance payment” scheme throughout the crisis.
– Arrange for loans to be provided by banks under special terms for Covid-19-affected companies with turnover of up to 250,000 euros.