 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |
The Philoxenia-Hotelia tourism exhibition ‘duo’ once again won the sector's vote of confidence, as it welcomed 20,000 visitors. In fact, this year’s dual event marked a change in the make-up of visitors, with a substantial increase in the number of both professionals from Greece and abroad.
The tourism industry trusted Philoxenia and Hotelia for its promotion and contacts, while the entirety of the Greek tourism sector, through the 13 Regions and numerous Municipalities from throughout the country, was dynamically present at the top Greek tourism fair.
There was great interest in the Philoxenia International Tourism Conference titled ‘Asian Tourism. Greece as a Destination and as a European Gate’, where top Greek and international speakers elaborated on the potential of Asian tourism flows for our country. The conference was attended by over 300 participants.
At the same time, the thematic exhibitions of Hotelia wowed the public, with visitors flocking to both DPOINT SPACES, where the SPA concept and the LOBBY concept were presented, and All About Café of Hotelia, where about 3,000 individuals attended specialised coffee seminars, as well as All About Gastronomy.
At the same time, the thematic exhibitions of Hotelia wowed the public, with visitors flocking to both DPOINT SPACES, where the SPA concept and the LOBBY concept were presented, and All About Café of Hotelia, where about 3,000 individuals attended specialised coffee seminars, as well as All About Gastronomy.
Visitors were also highly interested in Green Zero Hotel ‘Reloaded’, the first modular ecological bungalow.
There were 400 exhibitors (both direct and indirect) from 18 countries at Philoxenia, and 200 (direct and indirect) at Hotelia. There was intense international participation in Philoxenia and Hotelia, with direct participation from countries such as Turkey - İzmir and Şarköy attended independently for the first time - Cyprus, Egypt, Austria, Russia, Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Poland, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Peru, the Philippines and Indonesia. Furthermore, approximately 180 international individual hosted buyers attended the tourism exhibition ‘duo’, while another 125 participated as a group delegation from Bulgaria, Albania and FYROM.
The Fairs were held under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Interior (Macedonia-Thrace), the Greek National Tourism Organisation (EOT) and major tourism agencies (SETE, HATTA, POX and XEE), and again “flew” with Qatar Airways, the official air carrier of the events.
The hosted buyers’ meals were sponsored by Grand Hotel Palace and Philoxenia Thessbrunch, in which the Hyatt and Porto Palace hotels participated, while the hosted buyers’ transport was sponsored by Zorpidis Travel Services. It is noted that Philoxenia Thessbrunch was held in cooperation with the Thessaloniki Hotels Association and Thessaloniki Food Festival.
TIF-Helexpo will focus on tourism once more at the Greek Travel Show, to be held in Athens from 4 to 6 May 2018, and will renew its ‘appointment’ with Philoxenia and Hotelia for November 2018.