The Greek tourism industry is anticipating a double-digit increase in foreign visitor arrivals this year, but the big wager remains whether this will translate into a corresponding rise in revenues capable of boosting the countrys GDP. Institute of Tourism Research and Forecasting (ITEP) chairman Prof. Dionyssis Hionis told ANA-MPA that a 4.5 percent increase in tourism revenue is forecast for 2011, representing a 1pct increase in GDP, with all that entails for a rise in employment, although it is still early to make specific predictions.
At this time, early bookings in hotels have posted a 3 percent increase over last year, although, he added, in the good years for Greek tourism early bookings approached 25 percent
Hionis also anticipated that the unrest in Egypt will also give a boost to the tourist wave to Greece, with tour operators already preparing for that.
Hellenic Hotels Federation president Andreas Andreadis also anticipated a substantial increase in tourist arrivals of a high single-digit or low double-digit percentage. He added that early bookings from Britain have marked a 7-9 percent increase over last year, while interest was also high from such countries as Russia, France and Italy.
Tourism bookings rise
Expedia on Monday sent optimistic messages over this years tourism trends in Greece, saying figures available, so far, for April, May and June are very encouraging, with significant reservations recorded for April and November. Speaking to reporters during a news conference, the international travel agencys officials in Athens said a government decision to lower Vat rates for hotels resulting in slightly reduced room prices has positively contributed to the attractiveness of Greek tourism.
Expedia said it would continue promoting Greece through news letters, its website and through online and offline marketing policies.
The travel agency said room reservations for Greek hotels, through special promotional offers, accounted for 43 percent of total reservations.
Specifically, package reservations for Greek islands were up by 50 percent in 2010, compared with last year, with visitors mainly coming from the US (36 percent), Italy, the UK, France and Germany.
Greek hotel room prices, booked through Expedia in 2010, were unchanged compared with 2009, although they fell slightly in the last quarter of the year, with this decline expected to be continued in 2011.
IN ISRAEL
Greek tourist destinations were promoted at the 17th International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) in Tel Aviv, Israel. The tourism trade fair took place between Feb. 8-9, offering fertile ground for the promotion of Greeces tourism market for Israeli tourists.
Hellenic Association of Travel and Tourist Agencies (HATTA) officials have also hinted at the possibility of greater tourism arrivals in the country due to the current turmoil in North Africa. Tourist arrivals from Israel posted an impressive 200-pct increase in 2010, corresponding to 250,000 tourism arrivals in Greece.
Summary:
This year Institute of Tourism Research and Forecasting (ITEP) anticipates that the tourism in Greece will increase because of a double-digit of foreign visitors. They estimate a 4,5 % increase of tourism revenues this year. This would be great for the Greek economy because the rising of4,5 % tourism income conforms to an expansion of 1 % in GDP and this lead to more occupation in this sector. Nowadays early booking hotels notice that there are 3 % more booking comparedto last year. But we may not be positive, because when the tourism was on their best in Greece, they obtained 25 % early bookings. Hionis also thinks that through the problems in Egypt the tourism in Greece will rise. Hellenic Hotels Federation president Andreas Andreadis says theresespecially interest from countries like Britain, Russia, France and Italy for the early bookings. If we look to the sales figures there are good expectations for the months April, May and June. This might be a consequence of the lower VAT rates on hotels and this had a positive influence to the appeal of the Greek tourism sector, because the price of the rooms declined and this trend will continue in 2011. At a trade fair in Israel, Greece promoted his country to the Israelites. In 2010 theyve noticed a dazzling growth of 200 % tourists from Israel who visited Greece.
My opinion:
Im glad that Greece will do better in 2011, because 2010 was a dramatic year for them due to the economical crisis, negative reports about the countrys debts and the effects of the Icelandic volcanic ash which affected flights in and out of the country.. Tourism has been one of the most important pillars of development for Greece, Ive heard that one in five persons living in Greece is directly or indirectly employed in the tourist sector.The improvement of visitors from foreign countries will give a major boost to the economy and to the people who have suffered under the consequences of an almost bankrupt Greece. For us, in Belgium its tempting to go on holiday to Greece because ofthe cheaper hotels, good weather and nice Mediterranean food. Certainly now the taxes on hotels are declined, I think this is a very good step of the government, it helps to attract people to visit the country and certainly those people whore sensitive to price changes. I find it good that they dont only aim their target on the European market but also on countries in Asia like Israel. If you see by doing some trade fairs in Israel leads to an increase of 200 % in one year! And this is corresponding to 250,000 tourism arrivals in Greece, if I would be the Greek government I would do more trade fairs in Israel and in the adjacent States. So they can exploit the tourism sector as much as possible. I do hope that in the interests of the Greek population and the European level of prosperity the tourism will do better in 2011 and gives us hope towards the future.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Irans most powerful economic, social and political institution, has moved aggressively after the contested 2009 presidential election to tighten its grip on society. The Guards where initially meant as an elite military force. But its broad mandate, to protect the revolution, has allowed it to reach far beyond its military capacity. Since the post-election protests, senior Guards officials have been moved into many important government positions. The Guards have taken over a majority share in the nations telecommunications monopoly. This takeover has amplified concerns in Iran over what some call the rise of pseudogovernment, prompting members of Parliament to begin an investigation into the deal. A private firm was excluded from the bidding one day before shares went on sale, and a company affiliated with the elite force won the bidding.
In my opinion the governments of any country should try to interfere as little as possible in its economy, because we believe in the principles of a competitive market situation. Of course for some markets, as public transport, it is vital that the government is involved. However if we examine the electricity market, lets say of Belgium, it becomes clear that because of the monopoly the prices rise, which is negative for the consumers. And Belgium is a developed country. The situation much worse in Iran, I believe. Its an unstable country where a lot of the economy is in the hands of the government. This makes it hard for civilians to become self-employed, or to get promoted or even just get a long term job. Their income is obviously irregular, doubtful and questionable. If they would earn more and with regularity, they can provide an education for their children, so they get better jobs and the chicken-and-egg situation turns to the positive. This way eventually the living standard will improve. Which can only be positive for the development of the country.
According to me it was wrong to prevent the private firm of bidding on a majority share in the nations telecommunications monopoly.Not just for Iran, but for any country. All interested persons should be given the opportunity to bid on their object of interest. If the Guards where so eager to own the majority share, they could have outbid the private firm.
This matter shows that Iran is not willing to improve, or at least some institution arent. Its government wants to stay in control of the economy. Its pity the Guards reacted this way, otherwise they could have send a positive signal to the outer world, to show improvement. Now they haven only confirmed what we already knew.
Iran: Arab Unrest Propels Iran as Saudi Influence Declines
Arab Unrest Propels Iran as Saudi Influence Declines
Summary of the article :
Because of the revolts in the Arabic world, Iran has strengthen their
position (they have send some warships through the Suez Canal it was the
first time since the revolution in 1979 they passed the Suez Canal and Egypts
new military leaders didnt stop them.) While Iran their position is strengthen, its
rival Saudi Arabia has became weaker. King Abdullah started a policy to head
of the unrest in the country by announcing new invests in welfare for the
people. But the main reason why there is unrest in Saudi Arabia that theyre
enclosed by the countries whore very unstable at the moment and also because
of the uprising of the Shiit majority while the leader is a Suni. Also the
partnership of Saudi Arabia with the United States, could lead to some
resistance of the people of course Iran could be the big winner in this
situates. Some people think that Saudi Arabia have to worry, that the region is
ripe for Iranian exploitation. And Iran has shown in the past that its capable
to take advantages of the regional instability.
Even though the circumstances can change for Iran, for instance when popular
political movements take the control. But the troubles in the Arabic world have
also removed the attention from Irans nuclear program and this leads to
disturbance of attentiveness of the international movements. Irans influence
grows each day, since 11th of September theyve beaten the Taliban
in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq this leads to a bigger force of
Iran. The country could also gain force through the growing assertiveness of
the Shiites. Shiites have been discriminated by the Sunnis; a good example is
Bahrain where 70% Shiites are discriminated by the Sunni rulers. Since last
week, they began a public protest where they ask for democracy. First the
government used lethal force to try to stop the opposition, and 7 people were
killed. Now the government wants to speak with the huge numbers of Protestants,
but they want that the government retrieves and the people also rejected the
Irans type of Islamic government.
But at the end the main question is, will Iran maintain to increase their
influence in the Arabic World or will another movement?
My opinion:
It seems clear to me that the Arabic world need to be reconstructed by a
government chosen by its people. Whether its a Shiit or a Suni, the people
need to vote for those ones who are representative for their country, whatever
the religion or origin is. But my opinion is also that Iran could form a treat
for the Arabic world. Its dangerous and frightening to see that one country
could dominate the thinking and actions of a part of the world. And I also
think that it is best for the Arabic world that big countries like the United
States dont interfere too much because this could lead to an anti Western
reaction of the people and this could lead to a positive reaction of the
citizens to radical movements (like Hezbollah, Hamaz, ). Thats why I think the
United States should only say something about the protection of the human
rights, not about how they should lead a country. So the transition of a new
policy could happen peaceful without any bad influences from the outside.
But I guess there are also treats from inside, Im concerned that the
discrimination could separate the citizens. Like here in Belgium, we have two
different parts Wallonia and Flanders, and my opinion is that its a little bit
comparable with the Shiites and Sunnis in Saudi Arabia. The population can come
along but the problem is that the leaders of the politic parties drift the two
races apart. And this leads to discomforts, disagreement, riots, that makes it
hard to lead or rule a country. So in this case I would recommend the people to
vote for a moderate, mixed government, were both races are representative. And
as far as Im concerned I think that if the people would vote for a moderate,
mixed government, were both races are representative that Iran would have no
shot to dominate and rule the Arabic World.
This
article is about the nuclear program of Iran. This nuclear plan is one of the
most important and alarming cases in the world in terms of nuclear weapons.
America and Europe believe that Iran is developing one or even more nuclear
weapons while Iran claims that their nuclear program has as main goal
generating electricity and also providing fuel. International inspectors have
said in May that Iran has enough nuclear fuel to make 2 nuclear weapons, what
is very alarming.
There have already been several attempts to engage Iran diplomatically but Iran
refused to cooperate every time.
I personally think that the nuclear plan of Iran contains the building nuclear
weapons. Iran is acting suspicious and they also refused several investigations
concerning their nuclear plan. Each time they refused to give the inspectors
the information that they need to examine their plan.
When they have nothing to hide, why dont they just cooperate?
Its necessary that the world pays attention to this matter, and goes against
this nuclear plan all together. Obama took already several attempts to
negotiate with Iran, and thats a good thing, but its important that all
countries do something like this. When every country takes measures like this,
the pressure on Iran is higher and so we can reach more in this way.
We have to stop Iran, because nuclear weapons are very dangerous and should not
be made in our world. Iran would have a lot of power when they are in
possession of nuclear weapons and we have to prevent that!
I dont understand why Iran is making this sort of bombs or weapons because you
cant reach a lot when you are fighting. When you have a goal and you want to
reach that goal, the best thing to do is talking and negotiating, not fighting.
Im really scared that this can lead to a World War 3, and that the rest of the
world wont have a chance against such powerful weapons.
Its clear to me, we have to prevent it and try to stop Iran and their nuclear
plan, before its too late.
In Iran, there is still a mystery over the whereabouts of the 2 main Iran opposition leaders. There are several contradictory reports whether Mir Hussein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi had been in jail or that they were under extreme house arrest. The 2 men havent been seen in public or by their own children since the protests on the 14th of February. A website, which is published by Moussavi supporters, says that both men and their wive were in Heshmatieh prison in Tehran, while a website that is run by Karroubi supporters, says that a neighbour saw the couple getting away in a car to a hidden location.
I personally think that the location/whereabouts of the 2 men and their wives is deliberately being kept a secret to the people. When the people dont know where the 2 opposition leaders are, they cant attack or hurt them and their family. The Iran government doesnt want that the protests of February are repeated so they keep the location of the 2 men a secret. By spreading rumours that the men are in prison or that they are under extreme house arrest, that only provokes the people more. Supporters of the 2 men and the White House press secretary say that the detention of the 2 is unacceptable and that they should be released. On the other hand, I dont think that the supporters of the 2 opposition leaders can be stopped just by telling that both men are in prison or under house arrest. If the supporters want to keep on protesting and showing they agree to the political statements of the opposition leaders, nothing can stand in their way. In my opinion, the best thing the Iran government can do, is giving the true whereabouts to the people and releasing the 2 opposition leaders out of jail or from their house arrest.
