Greece to Participate in 2019 New York Times’ Travel Show

The Greek National Tourism Organization will participate in the New York Times Travel Show 2019, which will take place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, from January 25 to January 27, 2019.

Eight co-exhibitors, including regions and municipalities from across the nation of Greece, will take part in the show and promote the Greek tourist product.

The New York Times Travel Show is one of the most important travel trade shows for North American merchants and consumers, and is being held for the 16th year, since its inception in 2003.

Last year, the show drew a total of 32,398 visitors, an amount which represented an impressive increase of 11 percent over 2017’s attendance figures.

More than 600 exhibitors from 176 countries around the world participated in the enormous exposition, including the European Commission, Visit Europe, the European Travel Commission and ten other European destinations through their official tourism organizations.

Over one hundred cultural events from around the world were also presented at the 2018 show. The large increase in participation and the great interest shown in European exhibits are seen as good omens for European recreational travel in the U.S. market.

The recreational travel sector currently represents more than $100 million in revenue for travel exhibitors.

Beyond networking, promoting new products and building new business relationships with tourism professionals, it is estimated that those who will participate in this year’s show will see additional sales amounting to more than $7.5 million.

source: greek reporter

When Princess Diana Flew to Greece For Her “Dear Friend” (video)16, 2019

On September 18, 1996, Diana, the Princess of Wales, made a surprise trip to the Greek island of Evia to pay last respects to her “dear friend” who had died several days earlier.

Britain’s “Queen of Hearts” had developed a close friendship with 27-year-old Giannis Kaliviotis, who had been hospitalized for months in London’s Royal Brompton Hospital.

He had suffered his entire life from cystic fibrosis, a progressive, genetic disease which causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time.

Giannis, a practicing lawyer in Chalkida, Evia’s largest city, was transferred to London in 1995 where he received treatment for almost 18 months.

Princess Diana met him at Brompton during one of her many visits to London hospitals. It is said that she was extremely moved by his absolute determination to battle the disease.

She developed a close friendship with Giannis and even invited him to dinner at Buckingham Palace.

Once she learned of his death, she boarded a private jet offered to her by a Greek billionaire and flew to Athens. She then traveled by car to Giannis’ hometown, Limni, on Evia.

Diana paid her respects to the Kaliviotis family and visited Giannis’ house. She then walked to the local church, just like all the other mourners, for his funeral ceremony.

Throughout this emotional day, she was escorted by the local Metropolitan, Pavlos Ioannou.

Ioannou told the congregation during the funeral ceremony that “God sent her in this difficult time to give courage to Giannis’s family.”

At the time of her visit to Greece, Diana was the object of increased worldwide media scrutiny, since her marriage had just ended in divorce one month prior, on August 28, 1996.

Diana died almost exactly year later at a car crash in a Paris tunnel on August 31, 1997.

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source: greek reporter

Greece Expects Increase in Chinese Tourism in 2019

Chinese visitors to Athens, Greece pose in front of the Parthenon. File photo

Greece foresees an even greater number of tourist arrivals from China in 2019, on top of the huge number of tourists already counted in the first eight months of this year, which represented a 22 percent increase over last year.

The new figures were projected and reported by both Greek and Chinese officials in an interview with the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.

According to tourism industry officials, the number of Chinese individuals visiting Greece could actually be even higher, as many Chinese obtain visas issued by other European Union member states and visit more than one nation during their European holidays.

According to the European Tourism Commission, the number of Chinese tourists who visit the European Union has increased significantly, and is expected to rise even more over the next five years.

A total of 12.9 million Chinese nationals visited nations belonging to the E.U. in 2016, and the figure is projected to rise to 20 million people by the year 2022.

“At this stage, Greece is chosen by the Chinese particularly for city-break tourism, for weddings and honeymoons, and for luxury and culture tourism,” said Ioannis Plexousakis, head of the Greek National Tourism Organization office in Beijing.

Luxury and culture-based tourism, he added, is “one of the domains we are eager to place more emphasis on.”

The Greek Tourism Ministry’s strategy regarding the Chinese market is to strengthen the already-popular types of vacations. The Ministry also hopes to create new types of tourism for the Chinese market such as cruises, conferences, exhibitions, and health and sport activities.

In an effort to pique interest in these new types of travel, Greek authorities plan to hold various festivals in different Chinese cities which will celebrate Greek gastronomy, history and culture. The events will take place throughout 2019 in an effort to further strengthen the cultural and tourism connections which already exist between the two countries.

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