July 2003

There are solutions and alternatives
The downturn in the global economy and the fallout from the September 11 terrorist attack on the United States, the uncertainty created earlier this year by the U.S. war in Iraq, and the SARS outbreak have landed on the travel industry like successive blows to the solar plexus. But of all these blows, the hardest has been the weak economy, which has taken its toll on both business and leisure travel. Airlines have been among the first to feel the pinch and, quite naturally, have been among the first to seek to stem their losses amid tough competition from new, no-frills airlines.
"Budget airlines" have slashed operating costs by employing new technologies like the internet to eliminate costly ticketing procedures so that travellers make reservations online and then simply present a reservation code when they show up for their flight. Examining this streamlined process, airlines seem to have reached the conclusion that they could stem some losses by reducing commissions to travel agents. Thus KLM, Lufthansa, Air France, Iberia, and British Airways cut agent commissions from nine percent to five percent. Other airlines eliminated agent commissions, offering travel agents quota-based bonuses after 60 days.
While the measure seems to have provided some relief for the carriers, it has squeezed travel agents, already reeling from the broader crisis in the travel industry. The airlines' decision to reduce agent commissions has merely transferred part of this burden from one sector to another.
Greek agents have reacted to the decision with a memorandum to the airlines, government agencies, and industry organizations. They have also initiated a series of contacts with the airlines to discuss their unilateral decision to cut agent commissions. Certainly, the airlines have a right - and a duty - to protect their own financial well-being. But springing this decision on the travel agents, who are also facing the same problems as the airlines, without warning and without discussion has only created unnecessary tension between the travel agents and the airlines - who are still quite dependent on the agents for trade.
If the travel industry is to pull itself out of what appears to be a deep and lingering crisis, all sectors must pull together. This is not a time for creating strains or divisions within the travel industry as all sectors are inter-dependent, from airlines and hotels to travel agents and tour bus operators. Both sides need to sit down to work out a more equitable transition from the nine percent commission to a different commission rate, perhaps phasing in the reduction over a period of 12 or 18 months. There are solutions and there are alternatives. But these can only be found if everyone works together towards a common goal.
Hellenic Travelling

Celebrity Cruises's "Millennium" docks at Piraeus
The super-luxury cruise ship "Millennium" recently made a port call at Piraeus as part of its Mediterranean cruises that include Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Venice, Dubrovnik, and Santorini.
Part of the Celebrity Cruises fleet, the "Millennium" has 11 decks and a capacity of 1,950 passengers. It is 294 meters long and 32 meters wide, and can travel at speeds of up to 24 knots. Eighty percent of the staterooms have sea views, and 74 percent have balconies. Every stateroom is equipped with interactive television sets, satellite TV, safe, refrigerator, hair dryer, and other amenities. The cruise ship also has one of the largest suites, the Penthouse, which has an area of roughly 290 square meters.
On-board facilities include a casino, library, internet access, 950-seat theater, bars, disco, lounges, music library, game room, and 2,500-square-meter aqua spa. The ship's menus were prepared by the world-famous chef Michael Roux, from the breakfast and lunch buffets t the Grand Buffet at night.
The "Millennium" will be cruising the Mediterranean through October. The classic 11-day Mediterranean cruise costs 1246 euros per person in an interior cabin and 1615 euros per person for an outside cabin, plus 270 euros for port and airport taxes. (The package includes airfare, transfers, and cruise).
Celebrity Cruises & Royal Caribbean International are represented in Greece and Cyprus by Navigator Travel & Tourist Services.

Spring celebrations at Evharis Estate
The Evharis Estate opened its doors again on May 1 this year to welcome spring and guests to its idyllic vineyards.
The estate, which is available for private functions, is located at Megara, a short drive from the outer limits of greater Athens.
Guests at the spring celebration were given guided tours of the winery, stone wine presses, and Ayios Haralambos Church. Α wine tasting followed the tour.

Metropolitan Hotel opens restaurant with a view
The Metropolitan Hotel's rooftop restaurant, La Veranda, offers diners an unparalleled view of the Saronic Gulf and the city of Athens. The poolside restaurant features a Tuscan menu prepared by chef Gaitano Fresa, whose specialties include Veal Picata, duck breast with truffles and porcini mushrooms, and roast lamb with mountain herbs and smoked eggplant.
La Veranda serves lighter fare for lunch, and is the perfect backdrop for business meetings. At night, guests can enjoy the Athens skyline over a drink at the La Veranda bar.

Singapore Airlines wins prize for services
Singapore Airlines has won "Travel & Leisure" magazine's award for services in the International Airlines Category for the eighth consecutive year. Singapore Airlines scored 90.78 points, followed by Cathay Pacific with 86.40, Thai International with 85.68, Quantas with 84.52, and Virgin Atlantic Airways with 84.19.
Α company press release quoted Ellen Asmodeo-Giglio, vice president of "Travel & Leisure" as saying that Singapore Airlines's services "are favorites among consumers."
The airline has also been awarded several other prestigious honors, including OAG's Airline of the Year, Best Airline from Europe to Far East/Australasia, Best Airline in the Pacific, Best Asia-based Airline awards and has won distinctions for Best Economy Class and Best First Class Globally.
The airline also won "Reader's Digest" magazine's Platinum Award for "Most Popular Airline" for the fourth year in a row.

Gnomon Performance showcases its services
Gnomon Performance SA organized a business showcase to highlight its services. Cabinet officials, senior politicians, and leading businessmen attended the reception at the Costa del Bo, a seaside club in the southern Athens suburbs.
Gnomon Performance specializes in organizing business events, from product launches and corporate presentations to meetings and conferences. The company also organizes corporate incentive travel in Greece and broad, and provides catering and sport event management services. Its clients include Phoenix-Metrolife-Emboriki, Solvay Pharma, Novartis Pharma, Goody's, and Flocafe.

Attica Enterprises signs deal on Superfast ΙΙ
ΤΤ-Line Pty Ltd of Tasmania (Australia) have entered into an agreement with Superfast Ferries, wholly owned subsidiary of Attica Enterprises, to acquire Superfast ΙΙ, the company said in a statement.
It said Superfast ΙΙ will be delivered to the new owners after the end of this year's season. Superfast are planning to replace Superfast ΙΙ in her current route with another vessel.

Greece featured in El Al magazine
Greek destinations were featured in a four-page spread in El Al's in-flight magazine during June, July, August, and September, the Greek National Tourism Organization (ΕΟΤ) said in a statement.
It said that 30-second promotional spots would also be shown on all El Al flights during the month of August.

Greek weddings on Madison Avenue
The Greek National Tourism Organization (ΕΟΤ) is following up its successful promotion with the Conde Nast Bridal Group with a new campaign entitled "Wedding March on Madison Avenue." The new campaign features displays, articles, and receptions in bridal shops on New York City's famed Madison Avenue. Like the earlier promotion with the Conde Nast publications, the new campaign will be a tie-in with the sleeper hit "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" whose star, Nia Vardalos, was recently presented with the Xenios Zeus award.
The "Wedding March on Madison Avenue" promotional blitz will take place September 19-21.

ΕΟΤ steps up promotional campaigns
Based on World Tourism Organization data that shows a growing number of travellers are now making last minute decisions on their vacation destinations, the Greek National Tourism Organization (ΕΟΤ) has stepped up its promotional campaigns in the international media through press trips, newspaper ads, posters, and special features on travel-related web sites.
Α supplementary advertising campaign, linked to the end of the Greek EU presidency, is also being conducted on international media outlets such as CNN, Eurosport, and BBC World aimed at highlighting quality, affordable holidays for last-minute travellers in key target groups such as families as middle-aged tourists.

Bridges 2003 focuses on development of western Greece
Economic development, including tourism, was the focus of a two-day conference hosted in late June at the University of Patras.
Organized by iForce Communications for the Western Greece Development Institute (INADE), the conference focused on the development prospects stemming from the completion of major infrastructure works such as the Rio-Antirrio bridge over the Corinthian Gulf. Plans were also discussed in conjunction with celebration of Patras as the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2006.
Among the 40 speakers addressing the conference were Kalavryta Mayor Thanassis Papadopoulos, who emphasized the need for strategic planning, and Nafpaktos Mayor Yiannis Daousanis, who spoke about the importance of developing a regional identity.

Techniki Olympiaki slams media reports on resort
Techniki Olympiaki, the construction group that owns the Porto Carras Grand Resort in the northern Halkidiki peninsula, issued a statement slamming "false and inaccurate" media reports on the resort's renovations.
Porto Carras served as the venue for the EU summit in June to mark the end of the Greek EU presidency. Techniki Olympiaki said it had submitted complete files with all data required by law to obtain building permits. It added that only a fraction of the renovations were made to meet the summit's requirements and that most of the work had been undertaken and completed as part of a 450-million-euro investment in the hotel.

British Airways exec receives top industry award
Rod Eddington, the 53-year-old managing director of British Airways, received the airline industry's award for best strategy in the airline industry. The coveted "blue ribbon" was presented to Eddington during the recent ΙΑΤΑ meeting in Washington.
Eddington received the award for introducing the innovative "future size and shape" program that helped British Airways turn a 135-million-pound profit in 2002 despite the downturn in the airline industry.

CBC films four series on Greece
Four 15-part series on Greece will be broadcast over CBC's television and radio network in English and French, the Greek National Tourism Organization (ΕΟΤ) said in a statement.
It said that the CBC series "Greek To Me," "Hellenica," "The Ancient Games," and "Olympic Journey," would highlight Greek culture, the history of athletics, and the Olympic Games. On location filming for these series was recently completed, ΕΟΤ said.

Greece projected in Vienna
Viennese guests enjoyed an "evening in the garden of Greece" recently as part of a clever promotional event organized in Vienna's public gardens by the Greek National Tourism Organization (ΕΟΤ) and the tour operator TUI.
In addition to obtaining promotional material from an infostand, guests were "transported" to Greece thanks to the projection of three-dimensional images by Panoround Com and Apple.
The event included an exhibition of paintings by Ilse Koltay inspired from Greek nature and Greek music.

ΕΟΤ campaigns in NORTH America
The Greek National Tourism Organization (ΕΟΤ) has launched several promotional campaigns in Canada and the United States, where tourists seem to be looking to European destinations again as the U.S. economy strengthens and the Iraq war fades.
ΕΟΤ's campaigns include full-page ads in a special insert organized by the European Travel Commission's in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Washington Post.
ΕΟΤ also plans a tie-in campaign in North America with the ΟΡΙ cosmetics company. The campaign will be linked to the company's launch of a new line of nail varnish entitled "The Greek Isles Collection." The line will be promoted with ads in leading North American magazines such as Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, InStyle, Marie Claire, Lucky, Latina, More, Harper's Bazaar, Redbook, Essence, People en Espanol, Good Housekeeping, and Town & Country.
ΕΟΤ also plans to participate in key travel expos, including the travel and incentives meeting in Chicago in September, the Salon International de Tourisme in Montreal next October, ASTA in Miami also in October, and the ΝΤΑ expo in North Carolina in November.
Meantime, ΕΟΤ is also working to bring the board of directors of ΝΤΑ, the largest tour operator in the U.S., to Greece in October 2004. ΝΤΑ has 4,000 members.

Ministers address conference on tourist properties
Nikos Christodoulakis, the minister of finance and national economy, and Environment Minister Vasso Papandreou were the guest speakers at a conference organized in late June on privatization of real estate assets.
The conference was organized by Hellenic Tourist Properties (ΕΤΑ), the real estate arm of the Greek National Tourism Organization, and KED ΑΕ, the public real estate enterprise.

Tourism cooperation in the Balkans
Greece and Bulgaria have signed an agreement on joint promotion of the culinary, cultural, and agricultural wealth of the Balkans, the Greek National Tourism Organization (ΕΟΤ) said in a statement.
The agreement was signed by ΕΟΤ president Yiannis Patellis and his Bulgarian counterpart, Dimitar Hatzinikolov.
Joint activities to be undertaken as part of the agreement include participation in a conference to be held in September in the Ionian on Balkan cultural development, publication of an album on Balkan gastronomy, and creation of ecotourism packages in the Balkans.

Ρ.Ο.Ε.Τ. underlines need for media restraint
The Panhellenic Federation of Tourism Enterprises (ΡΟΕΤ) emphasized the need for the Greek media to show restraint in reporting incidents, such as the suspected SARS case, especially as world attention focuses on Greece ahead of the 2004 Olympics.
In a two-page statement, the federation called on the media to exercise careful judgment when reporting on issues such as terrorism, climate, or epidemics as these subjects could have affect tourism, an industry that directly and indirectly employs an estimated one million Greeks.

Ionian isles revamp website
ΕΤΙΝ, the Tourism Organization of the Ionian Islands, has launched a redesigned website with information on travel in the Ionian islands.
The new website has four thematic units with information in Greek and in English. ΕΤΙΝ's head of ΙΤ, Georgos Zarkadis, designed it. Information featured on the site includes a profile of ΕΤΙΝ, presentations of each island with photographs, and information on Ionian culture, cuisine, and history.
The web address is: www.visit-ionianislands.com

Balkan travel agents examine tourism trends
Members of the Balkan Federation of Travel Agent Associations (BAFTAA) met in Tirana on July 26 to discuss the prospects for Balkan tourism as well as progress in implementing the federation's business plan and BAFTAA participation in international trade shows.
The conference followed up on an earlier meeting in Sofia, where members discussed problems specific to their countries. BAFTAA president Yiannis Evangelou, who is also the president of the Hellenic Association of Tourism and Travel Agents (ΗΑΤΤΑ), said after the meeting that he was optimistic about the prospects of attracting visitors from around the world to the Balkans as well as about the prospects of attracting visitors to Greece.
Specific problems reported during the meeting included the difficulty faced by tourists from Serbia and Montenegro in obtaining visas to visit Greece. These difficulties account for the gap in 2002 in the number of tourists from these countries visiting Greece (60,000) and Turkey (400,000).
Evangelou reviewed the prospects created by the inclusion of countries like Bulgaria by large European tour operators such as TUI, LTU, and Thomson, as well as the interest of German tour operators in Romania.

US Airways joins Star Alliance
Star Alliance, the airline industry's first global alliance, has approved US Airways's application to join the network. The addition of the U.S.-based carrier expands the Star Alliance network to cover 771 destinations in 133 countries.
US Airways is active mainly on the eastern seaboard of the U.S. and the Caribbean. The other members of Star Alliance are: Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ΑΝΑ, Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, ΒΜΙ, Lauda Airlines, Lufthansa, Mexicana Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Spanair, Thai Aiways, Tyrolean Airways, United Airlineskai, and Varig Brazlian. The Polish carrier LOT is expected to join the network in October.

Grecotel completes Makedonia Palace facelift
The Makedonia Palace, a Thessaloniki landmark and one of the best-known luxury hotels in the Balkans, will remain closed until August 24 for renovations to its rooms and suites.
The hotel, which is owned by the Grecotel chain, is being completely refurbished as part of extensive renovations whose first phase began last summer and which is being completed this August.
The pool, gym, pool-bar, and reception areas will continue to operate during the last phase of the renovations, which began July 12.

Club Hotel Loutraki gets new manager
Panos Panagiotopoulos has been named the new general manager of Club Hotel Loutraki.
Panagiotopoulos, 38, studied in Lausanne and at Cornell University, and holds an ΜΒΑ from London's Brunel University. He resume includes employment at top hotels in Greece and abroad, including the Athens Intercontinental, the Princess Sofia in Barcelona, and several hotels in the Hilton chain, including Athens. In 1996, he was recognized by the International Hotel Association as the world's best young hotelier.
Immediately before his appointment at the Club Hotel Loutraki, Panagiotopoulos had been employed by the Grecotel chain, where he had served as general manager of the Grecotel City Hotels.
Club Hotel Loutraki has 274 rooms, including 15 suites, a 2,000-seat ballroom, and casino.

'Let's Go Greece' route inaugurated
Prominent members of Greece's tourism industry set off on a road tour through the Balkans on July 14 to highlight the reopening of overland routes linking Greece and Germany.
Development Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos, whose portfolio includes tourism, gave the signal for the coaches to set off on the two-and-a-half day drive from Thessaloniki to Munich via Skopje, Nis, Belgrade, Budapest, and Vienna - Route Α10, also known as Pan-European Transport Corridor Χ.
Dubbed "Let's Go Greece" and "Fahren wir los nach Griechenland," the program includes stops in each major city along the route where participants will meet with local officials and hold press conferences to explain the purpose of the program and create publicity for overland travel.
The event was organized to showcase the fact that the overland route is no longer disrupted by strife but is safe for travellers.

ΕΟΤ's online summer promotion campaign
The web-based travel site expedia.com has been selected by the Greek National Tourism Organization (ΕΟΤ) for a new promotional campaign aimed at travellers who seek travel information on the internet or book their holidays online.
The ad campaign features banners with over 1.4 million views.

Crete Golf Club opens
The largest golf course in Greece recently opened at Hersonisos, a seaside resort of Crete about 20 kilometers from the Iraklio's international airport.
The golf club covers an area of 180 acres. Designed in the desert-golf style, the courses highlight the natural environment. Α team of PGA architects headed by Bob Hunt designed the greens.
The Crete Golf Club has a 38-spot driving range and modern academy with training greens.
Additional information is available online at: www.cretegolfclub.com

Northeastern Greece off to a good season
Tourism officials in northeastern Greece are optimistic about the prospects for the 2003 season. Based on data compiled by the Alexandroupolis Municipal Tourism Enterprise (DHTEA), hotel stays are up seven percent over the previous year, with a 29 percent increase in the month of June in the Evros prefecture.

Thalassotherapy at Club Med
Club Med Mare Nostrum at Vravrona, a seaside resort just past the outskirts of greater Athens, offers thalassotherapy sessions for health and beauty for hotel guests as well as for visitors.
Treatments include "health and fitness" massages, special therapy for the people with back problems, and "light feet," a series of treatments for the feet. Club Med Mare Nostrum also offers a variety of relaxation and beauty packages, including the Weekend Vitalite, Tonique, and Marin mud, seaweed, and essential oil treatments.

ExproClean goes international
ExproClean participated in Pulire 2003, an international trade show held in Verona, Italy, in June.
Pulire 2003 is one of the world's two biggest trade shows on cleaning and sterilization. ExproClean's participation attracted considerable interest, especially from foreign companies interested in participating in the 2004 Expro Clean show.

May tourist traffic in Athens hotels
Occupancy rates for Athens hotels fluctuated according to category in May 2003 compared to the same month of 2002. Occupancy of luxury hotels fell from 55.78 percent in May 2002 to 48.73 percent in 2003, but remained steady at around 60 percent for Class Α hotels. Occupancy rates of Class Β hotels rose from 63.60 percent in 2002 to 74.53 percent in May 2003, while occupancy rates of Class C and D hotels also noted small rises.
In the first five months of 2003, occupancy rates of L Class hotels dropped from 48.19 percent in 2002 to 40.55 percent. Small drops were also recorded in occupancy rates of Class Α and D hotels, while slight increases were noted in the occupancy rates of Class Β and Class C hotels in the period January-May 2003 over the same period of 2002.

Air Canada has new representative
Air Canada will now be represented in Greece by Amphitrion Air Services. Reservations Manager Aphrodite Papamichail can be reached at 210.9006146, 210.9006081.

SIA presents collectibles
Singapore Airlines has unveiled a collection of miniature model aircraft of its fleet, from the 1940s, when the carrier was still known as Malayan Airlines, to the present.
These collectibles comprise six sets. The first was presented this summer and includes models of the Douglas DC-3, Boeing 707, Boeing 777, and Concorde. The second set will be unveiled before the end of the year.

Post Office commemorates Acropolis Rally
The Greek Postal Service (ELTA) has issued a special collectors' series of stamps commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Rally Acropolis.
With the Parthenon as the backdrop, each of the 15 stamps in the series features vintage and modern cars that have made their mark on this world-class race, from the Alfa Romeo designed by the di Priolo brothers to Spanish racing champion Carlos Sainz's Toyota.

Greek team wins medals at Special Olympics
Greece's Special Olympics team has made quite impression at the international Special Olympics Games held in Dublin, Ireland, this summer.
The 126-member Greek mission has won two silver and three gold medals in swimming, two silver and one bronze in track, one gold and three silver medals in biking, one gold and one silver in bowling, and two gold and three silver medals in rhythmic gymnastics.
The Special Olympics team flew on Alitalia and KLM flights. The President of the Hellenic Republic received them after their return from Dublin in early July.

Lufthansa Terminal 2 at Munich near completion
Roughly 2,000 workers from over 50 companies have been working around the clock to put the finishing touches on Terminal 2 at Munich Airport, a joint project of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Munich Airport.
The terminal has an annual passenger handling capacity of 25 million and was designed to meet the needs of Lufthansa's hub concept. It will be used exclusively by the German airline and its partners inside and outside the Star Alliance network.
Features include 124 check-in desks, baggage conveyors totaling 40 kilometers, 10 curbside counters, and Skywalk. The terminal is geared towards quick service and a minimum transfer time of 30 minutes. Amenities include "a shopping and dining oasis" that is home to high-profile international brands, including the first BMW-Lifestyle Store.
Lufthansa operates two flights daily from Athens to Munich, with connections to worldwide destinations.

Sixt offers online car rental service
The car rental agency Sixt, which has operated in Greece since 1998, now offers an online reservations service through its website at www.sixt.gr.
Customers can log on to the site to browse available car models for Sixt's 5,500-car fleet, choose pick up and drop off points from the agency's 75 stations, and fill out a reservations form.
The site also contains information about the Sixt Express card and the Holiday Cars program for rentals outside Greece.

ΕΧΑ to reissue hotels guide
The Union of Attica Hoteliers (ΕΧΑ) plans to reissue its hotels guide to Attica for the 2003-2004 season.
Meantime, ΕΧΑ has also been collecting data from its members on tourist arrivals and departures during May. The survey, conducted on ΕΧΑ's behalf by JBR Hellas, compiles information from 27 hotels, although efforts are being made to increase the sample to 40. Data from the survey, plus comparative statistics from other European cities, is only available to survey participants.

SAAE elects new board
Dinos Frantzeskakis was elected president of the new board of the Association of Airline Representatives (SAAE) held recently in Athens. Anastasios Stylianopoulos was elected vice president, Zoe Skreki was elected general secretary, and Tassos Georgopoulos was elected treasurer. Dimitris Lentzakis, Dimitris Marantos, and Efthimis Varentzakis were elected members, with Georgos Georgiou as an alternate.
SAAE members represent foreign airlines in Greece. Its aims include working with other sectors of the travel industry to strengthen the tourism industry.

Louis Hotels receive Thomas Cook award
Four hotels from the Louis group have received awards from Thomas Cook, one of the world's largest tour operators.
The awards were presented to Louis Creta Princess and Louis Zante Beach for being the "best JMC all-inclusive-shorthaul 2002" and the Louis Ledra Beach and Louis Imperial beach for "best JMC hotel."
Recently renovated, the Louis Ledra Beach at Paphos on Cyprus has 269 rooms. The Louis Imperial Beach, also at Paphos, has 239 rooms. The Louis Creta Princess at Maleme near Hania, Crete, has 420 fully-furnished rooms, while the Louis Zante - which was also awarded the Golden Choice award by First Choice - on Laganas Bay in Zakynthos has 275 rooms.

Survey sees drop in hotel profits
JBR Hellas recently presented the preliminary findings of its Hotel Study 2003, based on 2002 data and conducted for Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) with support from Travel Daily News.
Aris Ikkos, general manager of JBR Hellas, said that gross operating profits had declined to an average 20-30 percent, a drop of roughly four percentage points over the previous study. He said the biggest slide was in resort-class and Class Α hotels, were profitability was down 5-10 percent.
Ikkos said that the decline in profits was severe, as it had been contained at these levels by an increase in revenues, largely from the sales of more rooms and increased food and beverage sales.
The survey found that labor costs had risen between 2 and 9 percentage points, depending on the class of hotel.

GE and Carlson forge alliance with Sabre
General Electric has forged an alliance with Carlson Wagon Lit and the Sabre Travel Network to create an innovative service for travellers.
Using Sabre technology, GE and Carlson have created a call center in Warsaw to manage business travel bookings for an estimated 16,000 employees of the U.S.-based multinational in Europe.
The technology used the Turbo Sabre Booking platform and allows GE to provide travel management services for its employees through Carlson.

'Brilliance' docks at Piraeus
Royal Caribbean International's sparkling new cruise ship, "Brilliance of the Seas," made a port call at Piraeus this summer for the first time since its launch last summer.
The cruiseliner has a capacity of 2,501 and a crew of 859. It has 1,050 staterooms of which 813 have sea views and 577 have balconies.
"Brilliance of the Seas" will be sailing the Mediterranean through October on 12-day cruises that include calls at Barcelona, Corfu, and Santorini. It will then return to the Caribbean for the winter.
Royal Caribbean Cruises, part of Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises, is represented in Greece and Cyprus by Navigator Travel and Tourist Services.

New Lufthansa portal for Greek travel experts
Greek travel agents can now access information through Lufthansa's new web-based portal. Information posted online includes procedures and facilities for electronic ticketing and automated check-in at Athens airport, updates in the Frequent Flyers' program, and information on the airline's corporate incentives package. The portals address is: www.lheXperts

New perk for British Airways first-class passengers
Anya Hindmarch has designed new personal care pouches for first-class passengers on British Airways.
The pouches contain products by Aroma Therapeutics, Elgydium, Carmex, D.R. Harris, and Eve Lom. These products include a pair of socks, lip balm, eye cream, toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, and other cosmetic items.
The pouches, which are collectors' items, will be redesigned every six months.

Ρ.Ο.Ε.Τ. hosts annual cruise
Greek National Tourism Organization (ΕΟΤ) chief Yiannis Patellis joined leading entrepreneurs from the tourism industry on a cruise aboard the "Hermes," made available by Andreas Potamianos for the occasion of the annual Panhellenic Federation of Tourism Enterprises (ΡΟΕΤ) cruise.
During the cruise, ΡΟΕΤ presented its annual awards, including special distinctions to the Christodoulos Sbokos of the federation's Association of Cretan Travel Agents.

Griffin Marine allies with Amadeus Hellas
Griffin Marine Travel and Amadeus Hellas have been working together since July 1 as part of Amadeus's global partnership policy.
Installation of the Amadeus front office system, Amadeus Vista, in Griffin Marine Travel's offfices in Athens, Piraeus, and Cyprus has been completed along with staff training.

Travel Plan presents summer packages
Eurostar S.Α./Travel Plan, Greece's largest tour organizer, recently presented its summer travel packages at a lavish reception at the Athens Hilton.
The even was organized in cooperation with the newly-established carrier, Hellas Jet. Guests included travel agents from around Greece who were briefed on the company's packages for popular destinations such as Disneyland Paris and Club Med. Cruise Plan, a division of Travel Plan, also presented its cruise packages for destinations around the world.

APG Hellas To Represent Icelandair
As from August 1, APG Hellas will represent Icelandair as its general sales agent in Greece. Athens and Thessaloniki will soon be connected through the airline's code sharing associate or interline airlines via Copenhagen, London, and Paris to Keflavik.
The airline?s fleet comprises ten Boeing 757-200s, one Boeing 757-300, and one Boeing 757-200 freighter. Icelandair, which was founded 65 years ago, last year carried nearly 1.5 million passengers, roughly half of whom travelled on transatlantic routes.
In Greece, APG Hellas's objectives will be to introduce Iceland as a new destination for package tours and individual travellers as well as develop new ship crew traffic between the U.S. and Europe. Icelandair and APG Hellas also plan to introduce a comprehensive travel service in Iceland, including hotel, car rental, and tour facilities.

Paxos Club Opens
Paxos Club, a complex of Class Β hotel-apartments, is open from May to October, with nine studios, and 17 two-room suites. It is located on the island of Paxi, which can be accessed by ferry from Igoumenitsa or Parga and hydrofoil from Corfu.
Amenities include bar, roof-garden restaurant, swimming pool, open-air jacuzzi, children's pool and playground, snack bar, and coffee-shop. In August, live music adds to the holiday atmosphere.
All rooms are furnished with air conditioning, direct-dial phones, satellite TV, mini bar, safe, kitchenette, hair dryer, and mini bar. Breakfast is served in the dining room, with its ample, open view.
Paxos Club was created in a fully refurbished late 19th-century. Guests can choose from garden- or pool-view rooms. Two-room apartments comfortably sleep families of four and feature large balconies or verandas.

Parking for coaches near Plaka
The association of Athens-area tourist shops has secured parking area for tour buses near Plaka.
The parking area, which is guarded, is located on Odos Mitropoleos, near Mitropoleos Square.

From My Notebook By Connie Soloyanis
*The economy of Greece may have slipped downward, but with the summer season in full swing, all the popular beach areas south of Athens are teeming with locals enjoying the clear waters and clean beaches, despite noticeably higher costs to enjoy same.
*One sign of tourism recovery is the recorded notable increase in the sale of travel guidebooks.
*United Kingdom airports report a two percent increase in commercial air traffic this past month over last year.
*Austrian tourists to Greece notched an impressive over 14 percent increase, while there was a decrease of some 20 percent in such bookings to Turkey and Cyprus. The ΗΝΤΟ is making a drive to create a flow of incoming tourists from Bulgaria and Romania.
*Introduction of the new low cost airline Germanwings, with service between Athens and Cologne has attracted some 80 percentage payloads. Reportedly fares are as low as 19 Euros one-way (but unfortunately, the Athens airport tax is over 70 Euros!)
*The European Union has now ruled that airlines that deny boarding (for overbooking situations) must pay passengers as much as 600 Euros plus other benefits.
*Some African countries are starting to take incoming tourism seriously, as one easy antidote to help cure local poverty.
*Tourism to the U.S.Α. is down as international (both transatlantic and transpacific) travel keeps falling. Airlines do not help as they raise fares.
*The Mediterranean Travel Fair 2003, scheduled to be held in Cairo September 16 to 18, looms to be bigger with more exhibitors confirmed than in the past.
*Officially Tokyo and Moscow are the most expensive cities to visit or live in, according to a recent survey made of 144 cities. New York City is listed as tenth, with Geneva, London and Zurich now exceeding such in the Big Apple as more expensive.
*Richard Branson, he of the Virgin empire, reports that he is determined to keep the Concorde flying despite initial refusals of his bid to take over such aircraft from British Airways.
*The Acropolis of Athens is getting to be a danger zone for tourists, with a recent series of robbery attempts.
*Television in Greece has degenerated to such a degree that you see the same commercial repeated three times within one commercial period. And, of course, competing products follow one after the orther-whether automobile or soap powders.
*One estimate is that there are more cell telephones in Greece than people.
*In Spain a new law would forbid children under the age of 14 from attending bullfights.
*Festival Cruises and Hilton International have combined to offer special “Hilton-branded cruises”.
*With the ╘renaissance╒ of Omonia Square one integral contribution to the upgrading of the area has been the recent establishment of Stelios' Trata seafood taverna on Themistocleos, just off Omonia. Top quality in what was formerly a ╘down╒ sector of Athens.
*Happy to report there are people organizing a drive that would revive the old ‘siesta’ period in southern Europe.
*Wisdom Department:
Living in the past has one great advantage: everything is much cheaper.
Bigamy is having one husband too many. There are some wives who claim that monogamy is the same thing.
What woman knows where her husband is at all times? Α widow.