With steady steps towards growth and the spirit up, the Greek tourism sector is probably the only “economic crisis” resistant sector. Tourism “remains the engine for the Greek economy” said Prime Minister Antonis Samaras addressing the annual conference of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises held earlier this week in Athens, “breaking one record after another in quality and quantity, and will bring jobs and revenues to the state as long as Greece keeps to its steady course”, he added. TUI, a renowned international Travel agency, is bound to extend its summer season in Greece next year and will continue to promote Greece as one of Europe’s top destinations, confirmed Peter Long, president of TUI, during the conference. Mr. Long vowed that his agency alone would bring 200,000 more tourists to the country than last season. “We will continue to invest in the future of Greece, working in close co-operation with the government. This includes trialling an earlier start to our 2015 summer season”, he said adding that TUI’s target is “to build upon this strong position to support further growth in Greece and to drive this country’s tourism industry to the next level”, calling as well for greater cooperation between local producers and hotels to help boost revenues and increase customer satisfaction.
Christos Kalloniatis (Professor of the Department of Cultural Technology and Communication at the University of the Aegean), Iris Kritikou (Archaeologist-Historian of Art), Konstantinos Maniatopoulos (Director of the Stratis Eleftheriadis-Tériade Museum – Library, Visual Artist-Historian of Art), Irine Vasilopoulou