Tourism and Hospitality News and Information Greece Athens

NEWS and INFORMATION of Greece and Athens

APRIL 2011

Acropolis Marble Fragment Returned to Greece

In a special ceremony held on April 12, in the city of Leiden in The Netherlands, the Director of the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities, Wim Weijland officially handed over to Greece a small architectural fragment originating from the archaeological site of Acropolis that had been removed by a Dutch tourist, in 1955.

The architectural fragment, a corner piece of a capital or cornice, made of Pentelic marble, measuring 5 by 15 cm, was handed over to Maria Lagogianni, Head of the Museums, Exhibitions and Educational Programs Directorate of the Greek Culture and Tourism ministry.

The event, held in the presence of the Ambassador of Greece in the Netherlands, J. Economides, was attended by members of the diplomatic community, the Vice President of the Federation of Greek Communities in the Netherlands J. Koukoulis, representatives of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the curator of classical antiquities, Ruurd Halbertsma, as well as many friends of the museum.

Source: http://www.greeknewsagenda.gr
HELLENIC REPUBLIC Secretariat General of Communication - Secretariat General of Information

APRIL 2011

Greek-Israeli Tourism Cooperation

Israeli Tourism minister Stas Misezhnikov visited Greece over the weekend at the invitation of Culture and Tourism minister Pavlos Yeroulanos.

The Israeli minister who was accompanied by major tour operators and tourism agents arrived in Thessaloniki on April 8, where he held talks with local authorities and business people regarding further co-operation between the two countries in the tourism sector.

The establishment of direct flights between Thessaloniki and Tel Aviv was at the centre of discussions as well as the promotion of the joint tourism packages, with special focus on pilgrim tourism.

The Israeli delegation also showed particular interest in the Thessaloniki Cultural Crossroads 2011 programme. In Athens, Misezhnikov toured the city, including the Acropolis archaeological site and the new Acropolis Museum, and signed with Yeroulanos a protocol of cooperation for further enhancing tourism ties between the two countries. Tourist arrivals from Israel increased last year by 57% compared with 2009, while arrivals in January 2011 rose by 18% and in February by 33%.

Source: http://www.greeknewsagenda.gr
HELLENIC REPUBLIC Secretariat General of Communication - Secretariat General of Information

MARCH 2011

Greek-German Co-operation

Alternate Foreign Minister Mariliza Xenoyiannakopoulou visited Berlin on March 16-17, heading a government delegation to hold meetings with members of the German government.

She was accompanied by Deputy Regional Development Minister Dinos Rovlias, Deputy Education Minister Yiannis Panaretos and Deputy Labour Minister Vassilis Kegeroglou and the general secretaries of the finance, energy and infrastructure ministries.

The meeting was part of an initiative that was agreed last year, by Prime Minister George Papandreou and German Chancellor Angela Merkel for closer Greek-German economic cooperation. Following the meetings, a joint communique on German-Greek Partnership - Current State of Implementation and Future Perspectives was issued.

In it, the two governments state that they agreed to cooperate closely in areas such as environmental, energy and climate policies; civil protection; investment and economic co-operation; social and labour policies; research and development; immigration, asylum and integration policies; transport; education, health and tourism.

"We reaffirmed our determination to continue this process and I would like to point out something which is also mentioned in the text of the joint communique, namely the recognition by Germany of the great efforts made by the Greek Prime Minister, the government and people to achieve fiscal consolidation, competitiveness and growth," Xenoyiannakopoulou said to reporters.

Source: http://www.greeknewsagenda.gr
HELLENIC REPUBLIC Secretariat General of Communication - Secretariat General of Information