In a statement to APE-MPE, she explained that there is a lot of room to strengthen conference-professional tourism, stating, in fact, that it contributes significantly to the strengthening of the Greek economy. At the same time, he emphasized that this specific form of tourism is underutilized because its value and contribution have not yet been recognized.
"We invite specialized audiences from abroad, who in turn are ambassadors of Greek tourism abroad and at the same time new jobs are created".
For 2023, there are very positive signs and the Greek state was invited to support directly in promoting the country as conference tourism. It is characteristic that the largest conference venue in Athens, the International Conference Center - Athens Concert Hall, set a conference record in 2022, while for 2023 it is estimated that it will move upwards again.
The main request of the association remains the implementation of a modern conference center in Athens, with a capacity of over 5,000 seats, as well as the creation of a conference registry. With the conference center, the tourist season in Athens will be seriously extended, and with the registry, there will be a recording of data that will seriously strengthen the association to move with targeted action plans, as it was emphasized. Finally, the elimination of VAT for the organization of conferences is considered particularly important for the association, since already competing countries, Portugal, Spain, have already abolished it.
