Travel Trade Athens 2018: Promoting business development for the Greek travel trade and MICE markets

Travel Trade Athens 2018 has once more succeeded in attracting top travel trade and MICE professionals. Over the 2-day event, the 100 cherry-picked, fully-hosted buyers participated in more than 3,000 meetings with over 100 top-notch local suppliers and were introduced to the year-round destination that is Athens.

Organized by the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau (ACVB) for the 6th consecutive year, Travel Trade Athens 2018 was held in cooperation with the Region of Attica and was supported by the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA), on Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 October 2018, at the Hotel Grande Bretagne.  

In an effort to promote Athens both as a leisure and MICE destination, the event hosted buyers from 25 countries, representing travel organizations and tourism agencies, conference and event organizations, as well as journalists from known trade publications and electronic media. 

Apart from the B2B meetings, the comprehensive event programme included events that gave buyers an all round presentation of the travel trade and MICE sector for both Athens and Greece. It included tours designed exclusively to showcase all the recent developments and experiences Athens and the wider Attica region can offer as a leisure and MICE destination.

The event was launched by the Mayor of Athens, Mr. Georgios Kaminis who hosted the event’s Press Conference, attended by representatives of top stakeholders of the Greek tourism industry.

Travel Trade Athens 2018 was organized on the back of yet another amazing year for Athens, with arrivals expected to reach 5,5 million visitors in 2018. Between 2012 and 2017, Athens saw a 100% rise in the number of visitors, breaking the 5 million visitors’ record. 

Mayor Kaminis spoke of Athens’ ‘total recall’ as a top destination in Europe. "The arrivals have more than doubled over the last years, this year we will exceed 5,5 million tourists" the mayor of Athens said, pointing out that "in just five years we have gone from strength to strength, from the grim reality of 2012 to Athens being ranked among the top tourist destinations in Europe".

Mr. Kaminis also referred to big hotel investments and the good press Athens is enjoying and stressed: "We have achieved this, because we have made developing the city and its visitor economy our strategic priority. We are fostering collaborations, like the Athens Tourism Partnership with Athens International Airport and AEGEAN, designed to showcase Athens as a year round city break destination. At the same time, the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau has been working to attract MICE business and put Athens on the world conference map. We know our cultural heritage and vibrant contemporary identity make us stand out as a destination. We have a number of big infrastructure investments and urban regeneration projects underway that will help us further develop our destination”. 

Alexis Galinos, Managing Director of Athens Development and Destination Management Agency which heads the ACVB, spoke of increased interest in the event, which aims to match local supply with hosted buyers’ demand. “We go to great lengths to fine tune the needs of all participants. Over 90% of the Greek participants surveyed have found Travel Trade Athens to be a good or an excellent event. One in three Greek suppliers surveyed say last year’s workshop led to actual business deals, which we believe is a good success rate.”

The 6th Travel Trade Athens was organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, with the support of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE), the Athens-Attica & Argosaronic Hotels Association, the Federation of Hellenic Associations of Tourist & Travel Agencies (fedHATA), the General Panhellenic Federation of Tourism Enterprises (GEPOET), the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels (HCH) and the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation (HHF).

Diamond Sponsors: AEGEAN, GNTO 
Platinum Sponsors: Athens International Airport 
Gold Sponsors:  Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Sound and Visual – Konstantinos A. Papathanassiou 

Valued sponsors: Clio Muse Tours, iVENTURE Card, Key Tours, Pro Electro Event Productions
Fam trip sponsors: Alternative Athens, Amphitrion Group, Association of Lisensed Tourist Guides, Be a Greek

This year's event was supported by: Athens Traders Association, coco-mat.bike, Christodoulou Family

Special partners: IGLTA, Partance, ConventaMedia partners: AMNA News Agency, Athens 9,84 radio, GTP-Greek Travel Pages, www.epixeiro.gr, Tornos News, Travelling News, Tourism Press, Hotel & Restaurant, HQ The Association Magazine, Kongres Magazine, Evintra, ICJ Mice Marketing. 

AFEA Travel & Congress Services was the official DMC for Travel Trade Athens 2018. 
Hotel Grande Bretagne was the official venue for Travel Trade Athens 2018.