Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-06-22

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Tourism minister inaugurates new GNTO office in Beijing

[02] British Travel Agents to meet in Athens in November

[01] Tourism minister inaugurates new GNTO office in Beijing

During a speech, he referred to his contacts with Chinese officials and said that he expected Greece and China to sign a bilateral agreement for cooperation in tourism soon.

Among the issues to be resolved is that of air transportation, for which the head of the GNTO is currently in talks with Air China.

The minister also stressed that problems faced by Chinese nationals seeking a visa for Greece were now a thing of the past, with visas now issued within 24 hours.

During his stay in Beijing, Avramopoulos has also appeared on one of the most popular radio shows of the city and has been interviewed by its largest English-language TV channel.

In a press conference for Greek journalists, the minister criticised those making dire predictions about tourist arrivals in 2005 and stressed that the figures for tourist traffic were currently positive.

He also slammed those businessmen that were "stuck in the past" and moaned about falling tourist numbers without making efforts to upgrade their product, comparing them to businesses that had adapted to the new situation and enjoyed full capacity until October.

Earlier on Wednesday, Avramopoulos inaugurated the international tourism trade fair BITE that is taking place in Beijing, with Greece as the featured country.

[02] British Travel Agents to meet in Athens in November

The ABTA convention is expected to draw roughly 2,000 Britain-based travel agents. Other cities in the bidding included Barcelona, Dubai, Budapest and Paris, among others.

The decision to hold the event in Athens was taken by ABTA's leadership in late April, following consultations with Tourism Development Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos and the board of the Athens Convention Bureau. The latter cooperated with the state-run Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) in the bid, according to a press release.

The convention will be held on Nov. 23-26.

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