The Philoxenia and Hotelia exhibitions welcomed a highly increased number of visitors, as a total 14,281 individuals entered Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre from 13 to 16 November in order to visit the two events organised by TIF-Helexpo.

More specifically, the 30th Philoxenia welcomed 12,074 visitors, i.e. there was a 54% increase in the number of visitors compares to last year’s event, which also included the Polis exhibition. Hotelia, in turn, which was not a separate exhibition last year but was part of Philoxenia, attracted the interest of 2,207 visitors this year.

Philoxenia also enjoyed high attendance by hosted buyers, who numbered 4,718, as compared to 2,665 last year (+77%).

Hotelia welcomed 495 hosted buyers, coming from 23 countries to visit both events, a fact that proves that dynamism and penetration of Philoxenia and Hotelia in international markets.

The great interest of the tourism sector in the exhibition and the prospect of becoming a reference point for tourism in South-East Europe is proven by the international hosted buyers (invited trade visitors) who visited Philoxenia and attended important meetings with Greek enterprises.

The conferences and numerous events organised by Municipalities from all over Greece within the framework of the two exhibitions were also by large crowds. ‘Destination Thessaloniki’, an international conference co-organised by TIF-Helexpo, the Thessaloniki Convention Bureau (TCB) and the Greek National Tourism Organisation, highlighted the efforts and plans of agencies of Thessaloniki and Northern Greece to valiantly place the city on the international tourism ‘map’. The experiences of other cities in the broader region of SE Europe and their prospects of cooperation with Thessaloniki were also presented during the conference.

Tourism growth prospects were recorded at the conference organised by the Region of Central Macedonia titled ‘Tourism in the Region of Central Macedonia – Raising Tourism Awareness’, at the 3rd Conference of the Macedonia-Thrace Hotel Managers’ Association titled ‘The Road of Greek Tourism to Success’ and at the open meeting of the Council of Presidents of Hotel Associations.

Finally, the innovation of this year’s Hotelia was DPOINT HOTEL VILLAGE, an innovative village where hotel furniture, decoration products and equipment were presented at an event titled ‘The Future of Hotel & Restaurant Design’.

18/11/2014 – 11:18