Andreas Mandrinos | Better days are coming for Thessaloniki tourism

Better days are coming for Thessaloniki tourism. This optimistic assessment was made by the President of the Thessaloniki Hoteliers Association (EXTh) Andreas Mandrinos during the established event for cutting the New Year's cake of the Association. The event was held at the “Makedonia Palace” in the presence of many owners and managers of its members, as well as representatives of the local government, the State and tourism organizations of Thessaloniki.

Mr. Mandrinos said:

“This is the first year that, despite any problems, optimism is the feeling I feel every day and I am sure that better days are coming for local tourism. The operation of the Metro, the clear improvement of the city’s image in terms of cleanliness, policing, and night-time noise pollution, as well as the opening of the border with Bulgaria will only work positively for the development of Thessaloniki. Let us not forget also the important projects that have been launched and we hope that they will be delivered at the right time, contributing to the tourism boom of our region.”

Regarding the major issue of increasing the climate change resilience fee, Mr. Mandrinos noted that “The green fee is essentially a city tax, in which we become collectors for the state, it exists in many cities in Europe. Our complaint is that it was introduced horizontally without taking into account the average price of each region and that it reduces the competitiveness of the product and this is what Greece will find in front of it.

Finally, the President of the E.X.Th., addressing the government bodies present, stressed that "Regarding short-term rental accommodation, the least the central government can do is to lock the new permits in the historic center of the city as it did in the center of Athens or to explain to us and the Mayor of Thessaloniki what it is that does not allow equal treatment with the Capital"

The Vice President of the Association, Konstantinos Tornivoukas, pointed out that Thessaloniki had very good traffic in the last quarter of last year, which shows that its tourism moves independently of the summer season. “Over the past year, since the new Municipal Authority took office, the city has seen real improvement in terms of cleanliness and, more generally, in the quality of the destination. The geographical location of Thessaloniki offers all the opportunities for experiential tourism since a visit to it is combined with many other nearby tourist areas. What we are asking from the State is for the support of the Thessaloniki Tourism Organization, led by the mayor of our city, in order to improve the advantages of the destination,” noted the vice president of the Thessaloniki Tourism Organization.

Attendees at the event

The event was held in the presence of the Deputy Minister of the Interior responsible for Macedonia-Thrace, Konstantinos Gioulekas, who in his greeting stressed that the Government is committed to the major projects in the region and will complete them within a specific period of time.

The event was also attended by Vicky Hatzivassiliou, the deputy regional governor for tourism in the region of Central Macedonia. “The tourist promotion of Thessaloniki in cooperation with all other bodies is one of our main concerns since the destination is combined with many others in Central Macedonia,” Mrs. Hatzivassiliou pointed out in her greeting.

Representing the Mayor of Thessaloniki, the Deputy Mayor for Culture, Tourism Development, Inter-Municipal Cooperation of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, Vasilis Gakis, noted in his greeting that in the one year of the city’s administration by Mr. Angeloudis, its new renewed identity is evident. Furthermore, he emphasized the creation of DMMO and pledged that the city will soon have new air connections.

The coordinator of the Prime Minister's Macedonia office, Yiannis Papageorgiou, also gave a brief speech, during which he stressed that the demands of the Thessaloniki Hoteliers' Association are completely legitimate and will be taken to the right place.

The event was also honored with their presence by the Commander of the Thessaloniki Tourist Police, Aikaterini Mattheou, the Director of the Thessaloniki Tour Guide School of the Ministry of Tourism, Lambros Toumbas, the Deputy Director of the Experimental SAEK of Tourism of Macedonia of the Ministry of Tourism, Xeni Gerna, the CEO of D.E.T.-HELEXPO Kyriakos Pozrikidis, the President of TCB Prodromos Monastiridis, the President of the Thessaloniki Tour Guides Association Anastasia Gaitanou, the Regional Sales Manager North Greece, Ionian Islands & Balkan Countries of Aegean Airlines, Irini Sidiropoulou, the Airline Marketing & Development Manager of Fraport Greece, Katerina Pollatou, the former head of the GNTO of Central Macedonia, Thomas Gountandsis, etc.

The Association warmly thanks the management of the Makedonia Palace Hotel for the excellent hospitality, as well as its exclusive air transport sponsor, Aegean Airlines, which - in support of the Association's actions - offered a double plane ticket as a gift to the lucky winner, who this year was Mr. Konstantinos Papadopoulos.

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