The Chandris hotel group recently completed a billion-drachma renovation of its unit on Chios island as part of efforts to meet the growing demands of the tourism market.
Airtour Greece, a subsidiary of German tour operator TUI and its official representative here, has been renamed TUI Hellas. Airtour has been operating here for the past 30 years and is one of the most successful and best-organized offices of its kind in Greece. It hosted some...
Dodecanese Maritime, a new provincial company, launched a newly-built catamaran named the Dodecanese Express last month at Greece's main port, Piraeus. The vessel then made its way to Rodos, where it will be based. The vessel, which is 40.5 meters long and 11.46 meters wide, will...
Within the next two years, the Greek coastal shipping sector will accept delivery of some 50 new ferry vessels. With these new fast ships, the time it will take to sail from Piraeus and Rafina to the Greek islands, and Italy, will be substantially reduced.
Just a few days before the start of the new millennium, the Village Entertainment Park opened its doors to the Greek public. Promoted as the largest such leisure park, not only in Greece but also in all of Europe, the 40-billion-drachma venture sports 20 cinema screens, 45...
By the end of this September, the Athens International Airport at Spata becomes a reality. "This airport, Europe's best," said Dr. Jorg Schill, chief executive officer for Athens International Airport, during a presentation of construction completed, "will be completed (in...
At least four tourism enterprises head for the Athens Stock Exchange this year in search for cash. The Astir Group wants 18 billion drachmas, the Divanis group 20 billion, the Club Hotel Loutraki 55 billion, and the Casino Xanthis two billion drachmas.
"Sales commission for travel agents has been reduced; there are fewer discounts available; special group rates have been abolished; and prices have risen more than 20% on some routes."
Greece's domestic tourism fair, which has opened its doors to international exhibitors for the first time, expects to host a record number, more than 250, of exhibitors this year. From the international arena, organizer Kappa Exhibitions expects participation from countries such...
A decent development in Europe's tourism industry places the sector within the new globalization sphere where most of the world's major industries now sit. Last month, C&N Touristik (Condor & Neckermann) made an official hostile takeover bid for the UK's Thomson Travel Group. The...
Stratos Vasilikos is one of the few in the Greek tourism industry who realized early that quality is the only way to compete and make money. In a step-by-step approach, he practiced what he preached.
One of the many aims of the Louis Group of Cyprus is to fly the Greek flag on its cruise vessels. "It's a shame Greek ships do not fly Greek flags," said the Louis Group's chairman, Costas Loizou, at a recent Athens press conference, "as this is in Greece's interest and in the...
With the delivery last month of two new passenger jets, Olympic Airways' subsidiary Olympic Aviation breaks out of the confines of the regional market and heads for the skies over Europe.
Cooperation with Turkish businessmen to establish a connection between Kusadasi and Thessaloniki was considered at a recent meeting in Istanbul between Greece's DANE lines and the president of the Greek-Turkish Council Iakovos Geronikolas.
GA Ferries has enlarged its fleet of ferries through the recent acquisition of three new, modern vessels. The first of the new high-speed vessels, the Milenaki, will take on Cycladic routes this May.
Greece has launched an effort to bring back into operation "Axis 10" - the shortest land link to Europe. As part of this initiative, within the next two months Greek intercity trains will depart from Thessaloniki and pass through Skopje, Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana and Salzburg...
The northern Greek prefecture of Pieria plans to spend a total of 153 million drachmas to participate at all major tourism exhibitions that take place this year.
The Mantonanakis Group recently signed an agreement for the long-term lease of the Xenia Akronafplias hotel group of Nafplio, which is owned by the Hellenic Tourism Organisation (EOT). The organization's general secretary, Evgenios Yiannakopoulos, and Mantonanakis company's...
With a pavilion of 800 square meters that hosted some 60 Greek tourism enterprises, Greece stood out as one of the big stars at this year's ITB Berlin tourism fair. According to the 60-plus exhibitors from here, Greece will welcome a record number of German visitors this year.
Festival Cruises, after launching its new Mistral cruise vessel last summer, ordered another two vessels at a cost of 340 billion drachmas. And that's just the beginning. The line expects to double its fleet to eight by 2004.
