Discussion Forum
First Conference on Pilgrimage and Religious Tourism
Pilgrimage routes and cooperation between the tourism sectors of both countries were discussed at the Conference that took place as part of the cross-cultural 'Greece in Russia, Russia in Greece' year.
"Both countries are joined by Orthodoxy, and we have had an unbreakable bond with Russia through the years. We want to strengthen this and satisfy all Russian tourists, who would have an entire range of choises while visiting Greece " Minister of Tourism Elena Kountoura said
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What happened with the Delta plane over Aegean?
A Delta airlines Boeing passenger airplane was intercepted by two Greek F-16 fighter jets in Greek airspace over the Aegean Sea on Thursday, May 19, as it was revealed some hrs later. The incident involved a passenger Delta airplane, flying from France to Kuwait, which was repeatedly failing to respond to the Athens Air Traffic Control communication to report its position entering Greek airspace.
for over an hour. The Delta plane did not respond to radio signals by Athens civic aviation authorities to acknowledge its course, letting no other choice to Greece's tower control, but follow international aviation procedures and characterise it ‘renegade’. Two Greek F-16 fighter jets were immediately scrambled and intercepted the plane, but the two pilots of the Delta plane continued to refuse to reveal their identity. The F-16s flanked the Delta plane and maneuvering in front of it, forcing the two pilots to switch frequencies and acknowledge their flight course to the Tower Control.
No other official information was released to the moment
World's Biggest
Cruise Ships
Cruise Ships
The Port of Piraeus has welcomed the Carnival Cruise Lines‘ largest ship to date, the 133,500-ton Carnival Vista which made its inaugural in the mid of May
Carnival Vista has chosen the Port of Piraeus as «home port» for 2016 and will come every week and stay for at least two days at the port with around 4,000 tourists.
The Authority of the Port of Piraeus, also, announced in early May a number of improvements for cruise ships, including new indoor passenger waiting areas with 1,000 seats and air conditioning, and new check-in points. There is also a new special waiting room for ship’s crew and additional posts for passenger screening and X-Rays.
“Piraeus Port Authority participated in Miami Seatrade, the biggest annual cruise event in the world, along with EOT and continued involvement and intervention in the Cruise Conference.
Carnival Cruise Lines had withdrawn its ships from the Mediterranean in 2014, but the rise of tourism in the region led to the restoration of some services. The company has also announced that 2016 will integrate the new program and two Greek ports, Heraklion and Corfu.
It has also been announced that on May 18, the largest cruise ship in the Mediterranean and third in the world docked in Piraeus port : the 168.666-ton Quantum of the Seas of Royal Caribbean, which can carry 4,906 passengers and 1,500 crew members.
Quantum of the Seas
On May 18 2016, the largest cruise ship in the Mediterranean and third in the world , docked in Piraeus port : the 168.666-ton Quantum of the Seas of Royal Caribbean, which can carry 4,906 passengers and 1,500 crew members.
Celestyal Cruises
The crisis also has its positive side effects for visitors. Prices are better, offers more abundant and tourist crowds less so.
Summer flights to Grece with Aegean Airlines - Up to 30% offUp
16/05/2016 – 23/06/2016:15%
12/09/2016 – 29/10/2016:30%
From/to Athens
Tirana, Yerevan, Vienna, Brussels, Sofia, Dubrovnik, Split, Larnaca, Prague, Copenhagen, Alexandria, El Borg, Cairo, Tallinn, Helsinki, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Nice,Paris, Toulouse, Tbilisi, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Budapest, Tehran, Dublin, Tel Aviv, Bari, Catania, Milan, Naples, Pisa, Rome, Venice, Amman, Beirut,Luxembourg, Malta, Amsterdam, Oslo, Krakow, Warsaw, Lisbon, Bucharest, Moscow , St. Petersburg, Jeddah, Riyadh, Belgrade, Ljubljana, Barcelona, Madrid, Stockholm, Geneva,Zurich, Istanbul, Izmir, Birmingham, London Heathrow, Manchester, Kiev
Larnaca, Paris, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hannover, Munich, Stuttgart, Tel Aviv, Moscow, St. Petersburg
Bordeaux, Brest, Deauville, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Paris, Toulouse, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Vienna, Milan, Rome, Venezia, London Gatwick, Larnaca, Metz,Prague, Τel Aviv, Amsterdam,
Lyon, Nantes, Paris, Dusseldorf, Munich, Milan, Billund, Stockholm, Nantes, Copenhagen,
Lyon, Marseille, Paris, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Milan, Venezia, Amsterdam, Geneva, Larnaca, Moscow, St. Petersburg,
source:guestinn.com/
Direct flights from London to 8 destinations in Greece with British AirwaysBritish Airways
British Airways
British Ariways starting season's 2016 flights to Greece on April 28. Two new destinatioins have been scheduled, Kalamata-Peloponnese and Chania-Crete.
This year's direct flights schedule from London to Greece is the following:
- London-Kalamata (2 times a week)
- London-Chania (2 times a week)
- London-Heraklion (5 times a week)
- London-Corfu (6 times a week)
- London-Kos (2 times a week)
- London-Rhodes (2 times a week)
- London-Mykonos (2 times a week)
- London-Santorini (4 times a week)
- LLondon-Thessaloniki (4 times a week))
Delta New York-Athens flights one per day at the end of May
Mykonos and Lesvos will be added to Volotea existing routes from Athens to Bari, Santorini, Palermo and Venice
- The Spanish airline Volotel on Tuesday announced that it will add the island of Mykonos and Mytilene (Lesvos) to its list of destinations in the summer of 2016, expanding its investment in the Athens market.
The two new routes in Greece will be added to the airline’s existing routes from Athens to Bari, Santorini, Palermo and Venice.
The new flights will be operated out of Athens International Airport and sales will begin on Tuesday.
Flights from Athens to both Mykonos and Mytilini will start as of May 27, 2016 and will operate every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
In 2016, the airline will fly to 12 Greek destinations, including Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Mytilene, Corfu, Crete, Skiathos, Aktio, Rhodes, Samos, Zakynthos and Kos.
Dear Traveller, you may send your message, comment or question to Greek to me, our team will immediately transfer it to the Ministry of Greek Tourism , and also we will be in touch to you to facilitate any emergency need you might have
TripAdvisor, the travel planning and booking site, recently announced the winners of its Travelers’ 2016 Choice awards for Landmarks. The Acropolis in Athens is among the top 25 landmarks in the world, ranking 17th.
The list of Europe’s top landmarks includes the Acropolis in the 10th place.
Acropolis Museum, 11th worldwide in 2016
Museums in Greee
The Beauty that's Greece, 2016
Kountoura: World Still Has Confidence in Greece
“The global market is showing its confidence in Greece and for 2016 we have received very positive signs. If all goes well, we expect a new tourism record.
International markets have responded strongly to our new policy”
“Greece is currently one of the most attractive and competitive destinations in the region, offering a unique and genuine product which we are continually strengthening and enriching,”
Addressing the convention, Ms Kountoura reiterated that tourism is “national affair” and presented the goals of her ministry which include extending the tourist season, working with 13 regions for the development of local tourism, actively promoting alternative forms of tourism, identifying and pushing new Greek destinations, opening up to new markets, upgrading the quality of tourism products and services, tapping into luxury tourism so as to increase revenue per visitor, improving infrastructure of tourism accommodation including airports, ports and marinas, as well as reinforcing tourism policy.
The minister also added that the focus now is to expand into medical and spa, religious, cultural, culinary, congress, sea, cruise, yachting and sports tourism.
Watch the video of Antony Bourdain visiting the Unknown Parts, the Good Life in Greece
Tsipras: I ask you to bet on Greece's tourism this year
2016 Destinations Ranking, Greece keeps mounting at top
Santorini was named Europe’s best island in TripAdvisor’s annual rankings, followed by Majorca and Madeira, Portugal.
Crete, Greece, was fourth and Tenerife, Spain, was fifth.
In the worldwide ranking of TripAdvisor 2016, Santorini comes second edging with the Hawanian island Maui which has been named this year the best island in the world.
source: Trip Advisor April 19, 2016
World
1. Maui, Hawaii
2. Santorini, Greece
3. Jamaica, Caribbean
4. Providenciales, Turks and Caicos
5. Bali, Indonesia
6. Majorca, Spain
7. Mauritius
8. Phuket, Thailand
9. Bora Bora, French Polynesia
10. Fernando de Noronha, Brazil
Europe
1. Santorini, Greece
2. Majorca, Spain
3. Madeira, Portugal
4. Crete, Greece
5. Tenerife, Spain
6. Rhodes, Greece
7. Gran Canaria, Spain
8. Corsica, France
9. Jersey, Channel Isles, United Kingdom
10. Capri, Italy
UK and Channel Islands
1. Jersey
2. Isle of Wight
3. Isle of Skye
4. Anglesey
5. Isle of Man
6. Guernsey
7. Isle of Arran
8. Mainland Orkney
9. Lewis and Harris
10. St Mary's
The island of Santorini is among ‘Checkinhistory’ online portal’s ‘7 Unbelievable Places You Should Visit Before You Die…’ list. Find the complete list from Checkinhistory
‘Santorini
one
of the 7 Unbelievable Places on Globe You Should Visit Before You Die…’
one
of the 7 Unbelievable Places on Globe You Should Visit Before You Die…’
Greece the most popular to Russians, Britons, Germans and Serbs
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the Brits
Greece in top-5 most popular destination for Brits during 2016
TravelZoo, which conducted the study, revealed that 27 per cent of bookings for Britons' 'main summer holiday' were for domestic trips, making the UK a more popular destination than Spain, France, Italy and America.
Most popular destinations abroad
The second-most popular destination was Spain, which accounted for 21 per cent of Britons' bookings, followed by France (10 per cent), the US and Italy (both eight per cent) and Greece, with seven per cent.
The staycation trend comes amid fears of terrorist attacks in foreign countries.
Louise Hodges, European Head of Communications at Travelzoo, said: 'Despite the attempts of terrorists to disrupt our daily lives it’s great to see the great British public still insisting on their summer holiday.
Spain most popular for Brits this summer (but Greece offers best bargains)
However, when comparing specific travel dates, the Greek islands Crete and Corfu offer the least expensive weeks available to book on TripAdvisor this summer.
Crete comes in at a cost of £654 for those travelling at the end of May into the first week of June and Corfu totals £665 for the same period.
The Russians
The number of Russian tourists in Greece this year may reach 1 million, according to Russian Tourism Federal Agency head Oleg Safonov who was a keynote speaker at the forum titled “Russia and Greece: Reality and Prospects for Cooperation in the Tourism Sector”, which included B2B meetings aimed at securing business deals and partnerships between Greek and Russian tourism enterprises.
During his speech, Mr. Safonov noted that Greece was leading the Russian marketall throughout May and recalled that in 2013 this country attracted the maximum number of Russian tourists with 1.2 million arrivals, to be followed by a downward trend during 2014-2015.
It seems, however, that this year there will be a significant recovery and he is convinced that "the number of Russian visitors may reach 1 million."
''Russians love Greece and they like to travel here. They like the beaches and the sunny climate, but there is room for expansion of their travel choices to other less known destinations within the country." Mr. Safonov concluded
It seems, therefore, that Greece will possibly be the "champion" that will take advantage of the Russian tourists' refusal to visit Turkey and Egypt this summer.
Russia’s tourism officials have said that Turkey and Egypt will not be destinations for its citizens for the rest of 2016 following the downing of a Russian military aircraft last year and concerns over safety.
The forum was organized by the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) and Russia’s Federal Agency for Tourism Rostourism
The arrivals of Russian tourists are expected to increase by 20-70 percent this year, Alternate Foreign Minister Nikos Xydakis said and assured, concerning the high demand for tourist visas in Russia, that at the end of next month the number of Greek employees working for the Greek Consulate's visa services will increase to 100.
“The Foreign Ministry, by Deputy Minister Nikos Xydakis, has assured that the procedure will normalize and the target of issuing 7,000 visas a day will rise from the current 2,000 by the end of May”, Mr. Andreadis Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) President underlined.
It was revealed recently that Isis is planning terror attacks across Europe this summer, targeting holidaying tourists by posing as ice cream and T-shirt sellers.
Following recent Jihadist atrocities in France, Belgium, Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt, a number of holidaymakers revealed that their current destination choice was impacted by existing travel restrictions on some of the affected countries.
Serbian tourists visiting Greece could reach one million
Serbian Ambassador to Greece said that many Serbs that would otherwise have gone to Turkey will now choose Greece
Serbian Ambassador to Greece Dušan Spasojević said that the number of Serbian tourists visiting Greece this year could reach one million, as a result of the problems recorded in Turkey.
Visiting the Volvi municipality in northern Greece, he said that many Serbs that would otherwise have gone to Turkey will now choose Greece for their holidays. He also added that a large number of the tourists from Serbia will visit Volvi.
He talked about the strong ties between Greece and Serbia, as well as the opportunities for investment Serbia now offers for Greek businesses.
Spasojević met with Volvi Mayor Diamantis Liamas in Asprovalta, accompanied by the management of the Greek-Serbian Chamber of Greece, representatives of local tourism associations and local business people.
the Germans
But there are wide-ranging differences in the strengths and weaknesses of the destinations in ten different product categories and four image categories, according to detailed evaluations by decision-makers from more than 260 travel agencies.
The categories included ‘trust and safety’, value for money, hotel quality, beach quality, hospitality, flight connections, service quality, landscape and countryside, and ‘uniqueness’.
The Beauty that's Greece
The Beauty that's Greece
A living caryatis, today's Minister of Tourism, has represented Greece's beauty in the eyes of the world for decades . Fate brought her on the most difficult moments of Greece to host the world's tourism, as a unique and valuable Ambassador .....
In her message, Alternate Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura invites visitors to contact the Tourism Ministry’s new special team which has been launched to address any possible problems related to tourism..
“I have been working closely with all tourism authorities and associations to ensure Greece continues to offer the highest quality of tourism services to its visitors.
We have daily updates here at the Ministry for Tourism, and we are all working 24/7 to provide solutions to any problems that may arise, with our first priority being to ensure that all visitors have a lovely holiday experience in Greece.
For these reasons we have organised, within the Ministry, a special Team to address all the possible problems relating to tourism.
You may contact us at the e-mail address: support@mintour.gr
We wouldike to remind visitors to Greece can withdraw money from any cash machine (ATM) or carry out any other type of transaction using their credit or debit cards issued abroad with no withdrawal limitation apart from the person’s personal limit.
In reference to certain media reports, stating problems like, food, medicine or gas are unfounded, as they are not reflecting the actual situation in Greece.
Welcome to Greece and thank you very much! “
Refugee Crisis affects Greek tourism
Refugee Crisis affects Greek tourism
SETE on Travel Survey:
Refugee crisis affects image of Greece as a destination
Refugee crisis affects image of Greece as a destination
An online concept survey regarding the image of Greece in the markets of Great Britain, Germany and the USA, conducted by British company Censuswide for Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) Intelligence on a total sample of 3046 respondents who have visited or are considering to visit Greece on whether the refugee/immigrant issue has influenced the perception of respondents about traveling to Greece found an increase in travelers doubting their safety regarding Greece
- Regarding the migration/refugee crisis,52%percent of German respondentsconfesssed that it affects their travelling perception of Greece, compared to 46 percent of respondents interviewed in the previous survey.
- The survey also recorded a 16% increase in potential UK travellers that disclosed the migration/refugee crisis affects their travelling perception of Greece (55 percent of travellers compared with 39 percent of respondents in the previoussurvey).
- The migration/refugee crisis has also affected the US market in relation to travel to Greece during the past three months(31 percent of Americans answered the crisis affects their travelling perception of Greece against 28 percent of respondents in the first survey).
According to the infographic above posted by SETE's President Andreas Andreadis, the attractiveness of Italy, Spain, France and Croatia has increased while the attractiveness of Greece, Turkey, Egypt has fallen on noticable level.more
"The government by all means must ensure that the daily life of local communities will not deteriorate, the economy and employment will not be hit and the operation of tourism enterprises and the quality of the tourist services will not be affected, regardless of any additional effects that may occur to Greece's image, arrivals and state revenue."
“The refugee crisis suddenly affected all of our 10 islands — mainly Lesvos, Samos and Chios — on all levels…said Nikolaos Katrakazos Deputy Regional Governor of Samos, representing also Lesvos and Chios island on the ITB Trade Fair in Berlin “Right now," he said, (March 2016) "the decline in bookings to our islands has reached 30-55 percent per market, per island.” The main markets of the North Aegean Region include the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Scandinavia, Italy and the United Kingdom.
This is the #Borders Management List for #Greece. #Cruise and #yacht travelers will also be screened
The overexposure and the overstatement of the Refugee crisis situation created negative sentiment”
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