February 2004

Elections - Olympic Games - Identity
In January, Prime Minister Costas Simitis ended months of speculation by announcing that national election would be held on March 7. The ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), led not by Simitis but by his successor Foreign Minister George Papandreou, and the main opposition New Democracy party led by Costas Karamanlis have since embarked on intense campaigns to woo voters. In their bid for power, parties and candidates have appealed to Greeks' hopes for a better future - not in some distance time, but tomorrow.
On March 8, Greece will have a new government. This government will have to move quickly to meet the challenges arising from hosting the world's top sports gathering - and the world's premiere event. The time until the start of the Olympic Games is now being counted in days rather than weeks or months, and although much of the work has been done, the new prime minister and his cabinet will have to work diligently to ensure that any divisiveness that surfaced during the election campaign is healed so that Greece can welcome these homecoming Games with one voice and one heart.
The year 2004 is critical for Greece. And tourism has a vital role to play in this crucial year as it is the sole industry that cuts across the private and public sectors, production and services, and is linked to banking, environment, industry, agriculture, transport, urban planning, communications, education. The government that is elected on March 7 will have to take a long, hard look at Greece's tourism policy and prospects in order to quickly come up with programs that will fully exploit the unprecedented exposure the country will receive from hosting the Games.
The tourism sector has invested its hopes in 2004 in the belief that the Olympic Games will lift it out of the tailspin set off by the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Indeed, if this opportunity is fully and properly exploited, it could become the seed of a new tourism boom that carries Greece through 2008 when it will host another world-class event, the Expo in Thessaloniki.
Unfortunately, to date tourism has been approached piecemeal. Tourism policy has not been developed in tandem with other policies, for example agriculture or urban planning, creating confusion. Even within the sector itself, decisions on one issue or relating to one sub sector have often been taken with no consideration of the effect on the rest of the sector.
The tourism industry has pinned its hopes for recovery on the 2004 Olympics. But the Games, which are expected to attract large numbers of visitors to Greece, should not be viewed simply as a guaranteed source of bookings. For the host country, the Olympics are about identity. In the few remaining months before the Games, Greece must decide which image it wants to project to the world. This image is inextricably linked to Greece's tourism policy, which the government elected on March 7 must move quickly to articulate and implement.

Hellenic Travelling

Tsohatzopoulos outlines vision at Greek-Syrian Tourism Conference
Development Minister Akis Tsohadzopoulos conveyed the Greek government's interest in using tourism to develop business ties between Greece and Syria, citing the travel and tourism sector as vital for laying "stable foundations" for bilateral cooperation in the private sector.
Tsohadzopoulos's remarks were made in a keynote address at a one-day conference on Greek-Syrian tourism ties held in Athens in mid December on the sidelines of an official visit by Syrian President Assad.
"We in Greece also have our own vision of Greek tourism and are proud of the tourism product our country has to offer in terms of infrastructure, culture, and religion," said Tsohadzopoulos, whose portfolio includes tourism. "For both countries a fundamental element for success [in this sector] is that we both believe in the need to have a vision. And because we have this vision, we will succeed."
Tsohadzopoulos said 2003 had been a milestone in bilateral relations in the tourism sector given the cooperation agreement signed in February and Syria's first-ever participation in the annual Philoxenia trade show held in Thessaloniki. He said the conference and the signing of an investment protocol was further expression of the will for a substantial cooperation between the two to support private sector cooperation between Greek and Syrian businesses in the tourism industry.
"Tourism is a wonderful, local product that lends itself to development... according to demand. And of course [spurring] demand requires marketing and advertising, developing international relations. This is why Greece and Syria want to develop our relations, contributing jointly to the marketing, promotion, and advertising of the tourism product we produce in each of our countries and thus make it possible to utilize the demand that exists worldwide [for our countries' tourism product]."
Noting that Syrian tourism had grown over in 2003 compared to the previous year, Tsohadzopoulos said that Greece hoped figures for 2003 would hold steady but that 2004 would be a year of a "dynamic" rebound.
"After the end of the war in Iraq and with the peace that we hope will come soon in the Middle East, but also after the Olympic Games, that will be held in Athens, we hope that there will also be a rebound in the European economy, which has been stagnant since 2000. Thus, for 2005, we hope the terms will be advantageous and we aim at a high level of growth of our tourism product," he added.
Turning to recent travel trends, Tsohadzopoulos said travellers were no longer content in remaining in a single place for the duration of their holidays but wanted to take full advantage of their vacation by visiting different areas or places - something that required bilateral or multilateral cooperation. To further such cooperation, the development minister said that a joint committee established under the bilateral protocol would meet in March to draft a specific timetable and activities aimed at the protocol's implementation in practice.
"We want our cooperation to be bilateral initially, but also multilateral within our region," Tsohadzopoulos said.

Gulf Air Expands its fleet
Gulf Air has announced the long-term lease of three aircraft, thus expanding its fleet from 33 planes to 36.
Under the agreement, the airline will lease two new Airbus aircraft Α340 and one Α320, bringing the total number of Airbus Α340 in its fleet to ten. One of the three new leases was delivered to the airline in October from the Airbus plant at Toulouse in France.
"The three aircraft will be put into service early in [2004] to meet the continuously increasing demands of our network and meet our commitments regarding the daily needs and frequency of flights, James Hogan, the airline's president and managing director said in a statement.
"Taking into account the third quarter results, we expect a strong close to the year, and combined with our proper placement in the market are ready to move ahead with the next phase of our network and the expansion of our fleet during the second year of the restructuring program we have begun," he said. Hogan added that expanded the Gulf Air fleet was vital to the airline's strategic restructuring plan that aims at doubling the fleet to 60 aircraft by 2009.
The leading aircraft manufacturers including Airbus, Boeing, and Bombardier are expected to submit further proposals in the coming months.
Gulf Air was founded in 1950 and today belongs jointly to the United Kingdom of Bahrain, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. Its network covers 45 destinations in 33 countries on the European and Asian continents, including the Middle East.

Greece honoured guest at Ferienmesse
Greece was the guest of honour at the annual tourism exhibition Ferienmesse that was held in Vienna, Austria, from January 15-18 this year. The trade show drew an estimated 300 exhibitors and was widely covered in the Austrian press.
Addressing a news conference shortly before the Ferienmesse, Nikos Dimadis, the president of the Greek National Tourism Organization (ΕΟΤ), emphasized the unprecedented promotion Greece would receive as a result of the 2004 Olympics which would become a springboard for Greece's tourist development.
Dimadis underscored the infrastructure improvements in Greece, from the Greek capital's new international airport and underground public transit system to the Rio-Antirio Bridge over the Corinthian Gulf, and the expansion of the Thessaloniki airport.
He also cited the country's new sports facilities and hotels in Athens and the four other Olympic cities - Patra, Volos, Heraklio, and Thessaloniki - as positive legacies of the Olympic preparations.

ΗΑΤΤΑ offers certification for rafting guides
ΗΑΤΤΑ, the Hellenic Association of Tourism and Travel Agents, has initiated a certification system for rafting guides employed by businesses in the travel and tourism sector. The deadline for applying was January 7. The first meeting to select qualified rafting instructors was held at the Tavropos River in the Evrytania province on January 20-22. Α total of eleven qualified instructors have been charged with coordinating the program.
The certification series is organized through ΗΑΤΤΑ's rafting working group coordinator, Yiannis Holevas.

Book launch charity recital at Evharis Estate
The Evharis Estate was selected by the Megara Cultural Association Theognis and Elati Editions as the venue for the launch party for Nikos Iliopoulos's book "Stomata Gemata Angathia" (Mouths Filled with Thorns).
Book and author were introduced by Panagiotis Sgrourides, the vice president of the Greek Parliament, while actors Zaharias Rohas and Eleni Filini read excerpts.
The launch party was attended by the Mayor of Megara, singer Katy Grey, actor Petros Xekouris, and other personalities.
The Evharis Estate also hosted an evening recital, Evharis Full Moon, in cooperation with the Megara Branch of the Greek Cancer Society. Soprano Maria Thrasivoulou, baritone Ilias Tiliakos, and cellist Marina Kislitsena performed. The recital was attended by the Mayor of Megara, New Democracy member of Parliament Τ. Bouras, the president of the Cancer Society, and other dignitaries.
The 350-stremma Evharis Estate is available for receptions and other events for 50 to 400 people. Wine tours and tastings can also be arranged in conjunction with any special events at the estate, which is located on the outskirts of Megara. Facilities include meeting rooms decorated with paintings and sculpture by contemporary Greek artists, a library, and exhibition area. There is also a church on the grounds.

ΗΑΤΤΑ urges prompt announcement of 2004 ferryboat fares
The Hellenic Association of Tourism and Travel Agents (ΗΑΤΤΑ) have written to Merchant Marine Minister Giorgos Paschalides requesting prompt action in setting fares and routes to the islands for this summer in light of the 2004 Olympic Games.
In its letter to the minister, ΗΑΤΤΑ underscored the urgent priority of this issue in order to allow travel agents to plan and devise rates for packages and other tours involving transportation to and from the islands. It said that such packages are finalized and advertising abroad far in advance of the peak summer season and that rumours of steep hikes in boat fares had created a feeling of uncertainty, especially with regards to advance planning.
"It is inconceivable that tickets to the Games, hotel rooms, and overland and air transportation are being booked but domestic ferry routes are not," ΗΑΤΤΑ said in its letter. It called for fare rates and schedules to be published immediately, and urged that there be "stable" prices on long routes such as those from Piraeus to Crete, Rhodes, Myconos, and similar destinations.

British celebrates 70th Anniversary of Athens route
The year 2003 marked the 70th anniversary since British Airways began serving Greek destinations, the company said in a statement. Its first route linking Greece and the U.Κ. was inaugurated in July 1933 on the nine-seat passenger Atlantas craft flown under the banner of Imperial Airways, precursor of British Airways.
Today, British Airways has three flights daily between Athens and London's Heathrow airport. The route is served by Boeing 767 and 757 aircraft.

Conference on new technologies in health sector
Health Minister Costas Stephanis and former health minister Marietta Yannakou-Koutsikou were the keynote speakers at a one-day conference on "National Strategy for Health: New Technologies" organized in Athens on January 20 by iForce Communications in cooperation with media sponsor Apogevmatini.

ΡΟΕΤ protests loss of 2003 subsidy
The Panhellenic Federation of Tourism Enterprises (ΡΟΕΤ) has sent a letter of protest to the Athens Chamber of Commerce (ΕΒΕΑ) over a subsidy from the chamber in the amount of 1,500 euros.
In its letter, ΡΟΕΤ says it "lost" the 2003 subsidy because of bureaucratic delays in obtaining the necessary documentation regarding the federation's health insurance payments from the Social Security Foundation (ΙΚΑ).
The letter, which was released to the media, also protested the Chamber's refusal to grant ΡΟΕΤ an extension in the deadline for filing its application for the 2003 subsidy.

ΡΟΕΤ presses cruiseliner case with Development Ministry
The Panhellenic Federation of Tourism Enterprises (ΡΟΕΤ) has petitioned Development Minister Akis Tsohadzopoulos over the case of Royal Olympic Cruises, urging assistance in resolving the crisis as a matter of interest for Greek passenger shipping.
In a memorandum to Development Minister Akis Tsohadzopoulos, ΡΟΕΤ says that the financial problems regarding the cruise company's two newly built vessels, the Olympia Explorer and Olympia Voyager, is the result of the broader crisis that has hit the tourism and travel sector following the September 11, 2001, terrorism attacks on the United States. Underscoring the importance to the Greek tourism industry of the cruise sector, which attracts high-income tourism, ΡΟΕΤ notes that if the high investment required to become active in this sector was no prohibitive to others' entry into the sector, then the problems faced by one company would not be of such broad importance.
However, ΡΟΕΤ points out, the problems faced by ROC will have an impact on Greek tourism which, "we fear will not be reversible if broader interest in supporting this business is not shown." The consequences, according to ΡΟΕΤ, include the fact that this is the only Greek company currently involved in the cruise sector, and that if Greek cruises stopped, this would have an impact on all tour operators.
ΡΟΕΤ said that the German bank's decision to increase the loan instalments without prior discussion was "odd" given its cooperation with the Greek state in building war ships and other equipment. "We think that immediate state intervention is warranted given that sea tourism has created thousands of jobs over the last fifty years," the memorandum said.
Blue Star 2 'most popular' vessel on Piraeus-Hania line
Blue Star 2 carried a total of 31,293 passengers, 3,393 private vehicles, and 1,034 trucks on its sailings between the ports of Piraeus and Hania, Crete, in the month of December 2003, the company said in a statement.
These figures represent 50.75 percent of total passenger traffic, 42.16 percent of private vehicle traffic, and 27.17 percent of truck traffic on that route during the period.
In December, Blue Star 2 completed 56 sailings, on the Piraeus-Hania route compared to a combined 66 sailings by three vessels operated by rival Anek.

TAROM launches Internet Reservations Service
The Romanian carrier Tarom has introduced an Internet reservations service on its website, www.tarom.ro.
In a statement, Tarom said it had introduced the new system to offer clients the most accessible means of making bookings. The online reservation system takes just a few minutes, and passengers are offered a five percent discount for bookings made over the Internet. Internet reservations also earn additional bonuses for members of the airline's Smart Miles program.
The bookings service has a user-friendly interface that simplifies search operations so passenger can locate routes as well as reserve seats on the desired flights and dates.
The website allows passengers to book and pay online by major credit card. Tarom passengers can thus make their travel reservations anywhere and anytime, at home or at the office or wherever they have access to a computer with an Internet connection.
Privacy and security are guaranteed by the system's encryption system, which ensures that data is safely exchanged between the user and main reservation system.
Passengers can pick up tickets at the airport check-in counters or request that they be delivered by mail.
The web-based reservations system is part of Tarom's plan to use new technologies to modernize its services and enhance its competitiveness.

Tambakidis elected ΕΤΙΝ President
Nikos Tambakidis, general secretary of the Ionian islands region (ΡΙΝ), has been elected the new president of the Ionian Islands' Tourism Enterprise (ΕΤΙΝ) by a unanimous vote of ΕΤΙΝ's board.
Tambakidis, 55, trained as a physicist and is a graduate of the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki. He has served two terms (1992 and 1998) as mayor of Ayioi Anargyri, and served in the Quality of Life bureau in the office of Prime Minister Costas Simitis.
Tambakidis has also worked as a journalist and was the direction of the national broadcasting network ERT's regional radio stations in the 1980s.
ΕΤΙΝ, which has its own stand in the 2003 World Tourism Mart expo in London, also participated in four tourism trade shows in January - Utrecht, Vienna, Bratislava, and Helsinki. In February, ΕΤΙΝ will promote travel to the Ionian islands through its participation in trade shows in Prague (February 12-15), Milan (February 14-17), and Munich (February 14-18).
Meantime, outgoing ΕΤΙΝ president Anastasia Kanellopoulou presented the first issue of the ΕΤΙΝ's bimonthly bulletin. The 18-page publication is printed in 5,000 copies and distributed to member tourist enterprises, including hotels and travel agents, in the Ionian islands.

ΕΟΤ chief addresses Bulgarian Tourism Conference
Nikos Dimadis, president of the Greek National Tourism Organization (ΕΟΤ), emphasized Greece's readiness to welcome and host thousands and athletes, trainers, and guests at the 2004 Olympics to be held in Athens this August.
Dimadis's remarks were made during a conference entitled "Bulgaria: Dream Area" held in Sofia on January 8-10. The conference focused on the benefits to Bulgarian tourism from the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
After presenting an overview of infrastructure works such as the Greek capital's new international airport, new public transport systems such as the metro and tram, the Athens beltway or Attiki Odos, the Rio-Antirio Bridge over the Corinthian Gulf, and improvements at regional airports, Dimadis outlined changes specific to the tourism sector. These include the construction of high quality hotel units and upgrades to existing hotels that have resulted in a fifteen percent increase in available beds in the Olympic cities - Athens, Patras, Iraklio, Thessaloniki, Volos, and Ancient Olympia.
"In this sector," he said, the use of additional facilities such as room rentals and cruise ships will fully cover the need for housing during the Games."
Dimadis also appeared at a joint news conference with Bulgaria's deputy finance minister. The Greek official reiterated that the 2004 Olympics would be the starting point for a new, upgraded, development course of Greek tourism as a result of improved quality in the provision of tourism service. The Bulgarian official concurred with Dimadis's view that the 2004 Games would also benefit the broader region.
Meantime, both sides announced their agreement that the joint Greek-Bulgarian committee on tourism be convened as soon as possible.

Tsohadzopoulos highlights investment opportunities at London FORUM
Development Minister Akis Tsohadzopoulos called on British businessmen to take advantage of the investment opportunities, particularly in the fields of energy and tourism.
Tsohadzopoulos was addressing members of the British-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce at a recent conference in London on "Greece: Region Financial Center in Southeastern Europe."
The conference was also addressed by Finance and Economy Minister Nikos Christodoulakis, and attended by British cabinet ministers, the Mayor of London, and prominent Greek and British businessmen.
"Greece is a guiding force in the development of the countries of southeastern Europe and objectively is emerging as the center of financial and business activity and cooperation among the region's countries," Tsohadzopoulos said. He added that Greece was the center of trans-European electricity and natural networks in the area as well as transportation and communications networks, thus ensuring a connection between the markets and economies of these countries with the European Union as a whole.
"All this highlights Greece's strategic role in the region," he said.
Regarding tourism, Tsohadzopoulos emphasized that this sector was one of the Greek economy's most productive and most competitive.
"This is a sector in which the Greek government has particularly invested in the future," he said. The minister added that Greek tourism policy aimed at upgrading current services as well as developing alternative forms of tourism. He reviewed changes in the sector, and then appealed to the British media to help spread this message to the British people.
"This is the time when we must increase our presence in Britain too, in information and promotion, so that we can increase the number of British tourists to Greece," Tsohadzopoulos said. "At the same time we are creating realistic incentives so that foreign investors will come to the Greek tourism market and be able to invest."
The minister presented a detailed report about preparations for the 2004 Olympics and the Games' projected impact on Greece's social and economic development. He said that plans for the 2008 Expo in Thessaloniki would be based on a similar organizational structure that center on a master plan, adding that the Expo would do for northern Greece what the Olympics had done for Athens.

Tourism sector representatives protest U.S. travel rules
Three leading organizations from the tourism sector have signed a public letter to the Greek Parliament, prime minister, opposition party leaders, and the media protesting the imposition by the U.S. of travel rules on Greek citizens.
Noting that Greek nationals were the only European Union citizens who were required submit detailed personal information or undergo a personal interview in order to obtain a visa to visit the United States, the tourism sector associations said that Greeks were now being subjected to measures requiring they submit biometric data on arrival in the United States.
"We believe that the combination of this exhaustive checks and the expensive visa and the demeaning inconvenience on arrival in the U.S. are a humiliating discrimination against the citizens of our country and our country," the letter said.
It was signed by the Panhellenic Federation of Tourism Enterprises, Panhellenic Union of Air Travel Offices, and the Union of Travel Agents of Macedonia-Thrace.
The associations expressed their desire that such procedures be lifted, but also highlighted instances of reciprocal action by countries on whose citizens such measures had been levied. One such case, the letter said, was Brazil.
"Our associations, believing in the peaceful impact of tourism and in the equal treatment of countries and citizens of the European Union urge and ask that every competent Greek or European authority act to lift this insulting and demeaning treatment of the U.S. authorities against the citizens of our country," the letter said.

Rental room proprietors meet with Development Ministry officials
Constantine Botopoulos, the Development Ministry's general-secretary for tourism, met on January 12 with a delegation from the Confederation of Rental Room and Apartment Enterprises of Greece SEEDDE) to discuss issues pertinent to this sector of the Greek hospitality sector.
In a statement after the meeting, SEEDDE said the meeting had been constructive and that the general-secretary had shown great understanding for the issues raised by the delegation.
The statement said Botopoulos had committed to resolving key issues including the validity of the special operating license decals as well as the classification of rental rooms and apartments according to a key system. Procedures for both are outlined in Law 3190/2003 and Articles 2 and 3 of Presidential Decree 337/2000.
According to the statement, SEEDDE had also received commitments on the issue of special operating license decals for the Cyclades, to be resolved through a series of meetings in February, and the submission of a comprehensive proposal on a special management program through the Community Support Framework to create an online tourism business platform for bookings.

Lufthansa launches “Welcome 2004” Specials
Travellers between Athens and German can book round-trip tickets for as low as 209 euros for travel through March 31 under Lufthansa's "Welcome 2004 Specials" program. Under the same promotional fares scheme, round-trip tickets to other European destinations such as Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Copenhagen, and London starts at 239 euros and round-trip fares to trans-Atlantic destinations such as Boston, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Toronto start from 449 euros.
Α special Business Class fare is also being offered during this period, with round-trip rates to German destinations starting at 719 euros. Fares to other European capitals start from 739 euros and U.S. destinations start from 1,289 euros.
Miles & More members will receive discounts ranging from 10 to 40 euros on the above fares, depending on fare class and destination.
Restrictions apply and seats are limited.

Lufthansa to resume flights to Kuala Lumpur
Lufthansa has announced that it will resume service to Kuala Lumpur beginning in March. The German carrier said its summer timetable, to be introduced on March 28, features four flights a week to Kuala Lumpur on a Boeing 747-400 with a stopover in Bangkok.
"The key growth markets of the future are in Asia - that's where it's all happening," Wolfgang Mayrhuber, CEO of Lufthansa Group, said in a statement. "Malaysia is an increasingly important trading partner for many companies, thanks to its strategic location, Kuala Lumpur has become one of the key international trade and business centers in Asia, which is why we want to offer our passengers even better connections to the region."
The new service will operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
Lufthansa suspended flights to Kuala Lumpur in August 1999 in the wake of the Asian economic crisis.

Lufthansa flies to Guangzhou, Charlotte
The German carrier Lufthansa has announced two new routes on its summer schedule. Starting on February 1, the airline will introduce flights from Munich to Guangzhou with a flight continuing from Shanghai five times a week. The connection will be extended to a daily service on an Airbus Α340 starting from February 28.
Starting on March 26, Lufthansa will introduce a daily service from Munich to Charlotte. This is the second long-haul destination from Munich, the airline's second hub, rather than from Frankfurt.
The connection with Charlotte opens a network of connections in the U.S. on the German carrier's U.S. partner, US Airways. An Airbus Α340-300 will serve the route. In the forthcoming summer timetable, Lufthansa said it would be flying to eight North American cities from its second hub, with 55 departures weekly to destinations on the American continent.

Club Mediterranean Traditional Mansions launched
Α Greece-wide network of selected inns has been formed under Club Mediterranean Traditional Mansions to promote these facilities on the internet and through international travel expos.
The network comprises 177 small hotels selected from a list of 513 inns and small hotels visited anonymously by Club representatives. Criteria for including a property in the network included a combination of the availability of comfortable lodgings and traditional or historic setting.
The Mediterranean Traditional Mansions Club aims at highlighting Greek tradition and history through older buildings and artifacts as well as the famed Greek philoxenia, or hospitality. Information about club properties is available online at www.medtm.com.
Network members held their first meeting in late November at the St George Lycabettus Hotel in Athens to discuss a range of issues, including promotion. Α publicity program was approved, with features and articles scheduled to appear in prominent Greek dailies, including the mass circulation Ta Nea and Ethnos and the financial papers Kerdos, Naftemboriki, and Imerisia. International audiences are also being addressed through articles or ad features on websites like Travelling News, CNN Traveler, ChoseGreece, and Travelling. Television promotions have also been planned for the public broadcasting networks ΕΤ1 and ΕΤ3 channels and the Athens-area private channels Polis and TV100.
Mediterranean Traditional Properties plans to participate at four upcoming trade shows: Tourist Panorama in Athens, April 22-25; ΙΤΒ in Berlin, Germany, March 12-16; World Travel Mart in London, U.Κ., November 8-11; and ILTM in Cannes, France, in December 2004.
Mediterranean Traditional Properties also plans to launch an online reservation system in April 2004 through which both travel agents and private individuals will be able to book rooms.
Club representatives said the website will handle online payments through the National Bank of Greece. Travellers who book at Mediterranean Traditional Properties will be issued with member cards and will be eligible for discounts at cooperating businesses such as Europcar. Members will also be eligible for an ΜΤΜ-linked credit card through either Visa International or Mastercard that they can use for interest-free instalments on bookings and services.
The Mediterranean Traditional Properties Club will also offer similar services to members to encourage the development of small properties that fit the Club's philosophy. Member services include assistance in preparing applications for funding from Community Support Framework programs to develop guesthouses. Network representatives said that by 2005 they hoped to be able to offer members comprehensive consulting services in legal and accounting issues, reservations software, training in positions from entry level to senior management, and design, development, and production of logos, trademarks, and other business-related supplies.

ΙΑΤΑ applauds UK government decision to increase capacity at London airports
ΙΑΤΑ welcomes the decision by the UK Government to move ahead with much needed expansion of the London area airport capacity.
Commenting on the British Government decision, Giovanni Bisignani, ΙΑΤΑ Director General and CEO said, "The UK Government report draws a clear conclusion in tackling the tough issue of how to increase UK airport capacity. Immediate capacity extension at Stansted and the willingness to move ahead at Heathrow will provide the capacity that is essential for the UK economy and for the aviation industry."
"The expansion of Stansted Airport is a useful decision in the European context, but there is no room for two intercontinental hubs in the London area," Bisignani added. The consolidation trends and liberalisation in international aviation will induce airline mergers and further stimulate hub and spoke systems for long haul connections. Heathrow is and will remain the global gateway and hub that London and the UK need.
ΙΑΤΑ urges the UK Government to proceed speedily to complete the environmental study that will enable further expansion at Heathrow to be delivered. Congestion at Heathrow causes delay, environmental damage and financial loss, which can only be overcome by providing adequate capacity for efficient operations there.
ΙΑΤΑ and the airlines are looking forward to working with ΒΑΑ to implement the expansion plan in the most cost-effective and timely way. From ΙΑΤΑ News

Lesvos to host Afganistan’s Olympic games team in May & June
The eastern Aegean island of Lesvos will host the Olympic Games team of Afghanistan which will participate for the first time after 25 years in the Games.
The Ministry of the Aegean in Lesvos will host the team in the months of May and June in order for it to train at the island's sports facilities.
The initiative to host the national team of Afghanistan was taken by the Greek Emergency Rescue Unit in cooperation with the foreign ministry and the Athens 2004 Organising Committee (ATHOC).
Aegean Minister Nikos Sifounakis, in statements on Sunday, said ''it concerns a symbolic gesture where a country like Afghanistan, which has suffered from war so many years and continues to suffer, has decided to participate, after two and a half decades, in the Olympic Games.''
From Athens News Agency

Attica Enterprises announces deal with Grimaldi Group
Attica Enterprises has reached an agreement with Atlantic Navigazione of the Naples-based Grimaldi Group on the acquisition of Superfast Ι, which is owned by its wholly-owned subsidiary Superfast Ferries.
Superfast Ι will be delivered to its new owners at the end of February 2004, Attica Enterprises said in a statement. Superfast Ferries will replace Superfast Ι on its route with another one of its vessels.
Built in Germany, Superfast Ι was the first of a new generation of ferries introduced on the Greece-Italy routes in 1995. Since then, it has carried more than one million passengers on the Patras-Ancona-Patras and Patras-Igoumenitsa-Bari-Igoumenitsa-Patras routes.
Its sale concludes the sale of four first-generation vessels by Superfast Ferries. Australian buyers acquired the first three ships.
The Superfast Ferries fleet now comprises eight brand-new car-passenger Superfast ferries built since 2001 and an average age of less than three years.

ΙΑΤΑ objectives for 2004 aim to turn recovery trend into sustained growth
"In 2003, the combination of war in Iraq, ongoing security concerns and SARS has tested the mettle of the air transport industry in an unprecedented manner," said ΙΑΤΑ Director General & CEO Giovanni Bisignani. "Painful recovery strategies, industry resilience and willingness to adapt have been essential on the road to recovery."
Following the dramatic decline in airline traffic resulting from SARS in the first half of the year, passenger figures have steadily improved. Monthly growth has resumed, and ΙΑΤΑ anticipates that overall international passenger numbers for 2003 will be only 3 to 4% lower than 2002.
"Positive growth is expected in 2004, with a bounce-back of 7 to 8% in international RPKs (passenger traffic), with Asia Pacific leading all regions," announced Bisignani. "We must not forget, however, that passenger traffic figures are still below pre-September 11 levels."
International freight traffic remained strong during 2003 and is likely to record a 5% increase for the year, according to ΙΑΤΑ.
"Our agenda for 2004 is designed to turn this positive trend into sustained growth and to help the industry repair damaged balance sheets," said Bisignani. "Airlines will continue to target increase internal cost efficiencies. Airports and air traffic services also have a key role to play. Many have understood the competitive pressures facing their airline customers and have taken strong measures to contain costs. It is critical in 2004 that all service providers set meaningful targets to improve efficiency and reduce costs."
ΙΑΤΑ has established a USD 900 million global target for savings and cost avoidance. An important area for such savings will be the ATC service providers in EUROCONTROL States. From an operational perspective, ΙΑΤΑ will work to ensure that major capacity enhancement programs are developed, as well as increased efficiencies on international routes.
Governments can also play a key role in the on-going process of financial repair, by giving the industry greater freedom to re-structure across national boundaries.
In 2004 ΙΑΤΑ will continue to work with governments to promote security measures that are globally coordinated and operationally effective, with minimal inconvenience to airline customers. In the current heightened level of security, the airlines are cooperating with government authorities and their specific requirements to have sky marshals aboard flights where required. Aside from specific, identified threats, the international airline industry continues to believe that security resources are best allocated to ensure that threats do not get on board the aircraft. Like all security costs, the sky marshals should be provided by the governments concerned.
Continued improvement in safety remains an overarching goal for ΙΑΤΑ and its member airlines. 2004 will mark the beginning of a new ambitious objective of further reducing current low worldwide accident rate by a further 25%. An on-going Six Point Program supports this commitment, focusing on airline safety audits, infrastructure safety, management and analysis of safety data, safety training, dangerous goods and cabin safety.
"We have a very ambitious agenda for 2004," remarked Bisignani. "ΙΑΤΑ's strategy in 2004 will be to work effectively with our industry partners to bring the industry back to health and real growth."
From ΙΑΤΑ News

From my notebook. By Connie Soloyanis
- Despite a continuing slew of “official” announcements from the government that the year 2004 will be somewhat of a “boom” year for tourism (boosted by the costly Olympic Games) travel professionals still have gloomy prospects for the year, especially with no flood of advance reservations.
- The only cheerful news for the local tourist trade is that government promotion and advertising for tourism will kick off with the new year and not in the spring as in the past.
- Aircraft noise, particularly during taking off and landing, looms as the next major problem facing commercial airlines. Several European governments have new legislation restricting operations of noisy aircraft under consideration.
- Among improvements in Greece, not too highly publicized, for the Olympics of 2004 is one program of close to one billion Euros to modernize the country’s ports. All planned to be completed by July of 2004.
- Several events of the Olympic Games of 2004 are being planned to be held on the grounds of the old Athens Airport at Hellenikon. Afterwards one major part of the overall area is to be constructed as a new residential - business development, for some 30.000 people.
- It is now confirmed in an official survey in EU countries that Greece now ranks very high in the cost of a wide variety of things, including such as clothing, coffee and meals, since the adoption of the Euros two years ago.
- Electronic ticketing for airline travel is anticipated to become somewhat widespread by the end of 2004, facilitating a reduction of airline staffing.
- Forecast for distribution of mobile telephones is unlimited, whatwith school children now toting their own.
- To help curb unruly conduct and violent crimes by British tourists on the island of Rhodes next summer, a special platoon of English-speaking gendarmes are to patrol the popular beaches. One phase of the new program would have obviously inebriated people “escorted” to their hotels.
- Singapore Airlines, in tandem with Ryanair, is planning to introduce a new low-cost airline in 2004- to be called Tiger Airlines.
- Α new European Union project is to reduce air pollution from commercial air traffic. An international research on emissions is being planned, to provide guidance.
- China now looms as the top tourist destination in the future. Scores of new hotels have been planned, as well as more international flight connections. The Beijing hosting of the Olympic Games in 2008 is expected to be one big boost for incoming visitors.
- On outgoing tourism the British loom as the future leaders with projections that the present 180 million airline passengers a year to climb to some 500 million annually within the next two decades. Addition of new runways at both Heathrow and Stansted Airports are already planned.
- Also in the near future so-called “smart cards” loom to replace the “old-fashioned” passports.
- Wisdom Department: Blessed is he who expects nothing for he shall not be disappointed.