First and foremost, we both would like to express our sincerest appreciation for the excellent service that you provided in arranging our vacation. Being our first visit to Greece, we did not know what to expect, but after this vacation we will in all probability make a return visit. Thank you very much for putting this fantastic vacation package together, we were thrilled with what you organized for us.
While in Athens, the tour packages were very informative and educational. Our tour guides were always knowledgeable and extremely courteous. To be able to open our curtains at the Astor Hotel and look directly up at the Acropolis is a vision that will remain with us for the rest of our lives. The central location close to Syntagma Square could not have been better.
Santorini was breathtaking and was beyond our wildest dreams. We rented a car for a week and were able to tour the whole island. Our stay at the Villa Odyssey was a speical higlight of our vacation. Our hostess Maria made us feel like we were special guests in her home. We highly recommend that you add Villa Odyssey to your list of preferred accommodations on Santorini Island.
Paros was also relaxing and we rented a car for a day touring the island. The beach in Parikia was excellent.
Transportation provided by the taxis for our pickup at the hotel, airport, ferry ports was very precise and the drivers were always punctual and waiting with our name on a placard.
Once again thank you very much for arranging our memorable worry free vacation We will not hesitate to recommend your services to anyone from our area that may be interested in visiting beautiful Greece.
Sincerest best wishes,
Edd & Dianne
Canada
Year: 2010
2010 Passenger Line of the year, is awarded Louis Cruises by Lloyds list.
The Greek Shipping Minister, government officials as well as a number of leading personalities from the political, business and shipping community of Greece honored the prestigious ceremony with their presence.
Louis Loizou, Executive Director of Louis Group on behalf of his father Costakis Loizou, expressed great pleasure for this honoring recognition and said that the award coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Group’s founding back in 1935 and 55 years since Louis Group started its successful operations in Greece.
Louis Loizou emphasized the great future of Greek tourism and especially cruising has and urged everyone to believe in this potential and work hard in reestablishing Greece to its leading position on the world cruising map. He noted: “Unfortunately, so far, we have not altogether examined this issue in depth so as to take the necessary steps and develop cruising by capitalizing on Greece’s competitive advantages”.
This award constitutes a rewarding recognition for the 25year-long successful history of Louis Cruises.
In his closing remarks Mr. Loizou expressed his sincere thanks to the more than 700 Greek officers and crew that are employed aboard the Louis fleet as well as to the 2,500 dedicated members of staff the Group employs in Greece whose efforts have led to this important award.
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Dear Apostolos
My wife Marlene and I (Charles) would like to express our sincere appreciation for your very efficient communication and service to us in all matters of arrangements from beginning to end of the preparations for the Greek Vacation we had on AquaMarine of Louis Cruise Lines from June 15 – 19.
We appreciated that you gave us accurate and very prompt service on all our questions before the cruise, both through email as well as personally when you met us at the hotel in Athens where we stayed for 2 nights before the cruise.
Your communication was efficiently succinct and clear, assuring the “unsure” holidayers such as ourselves … all matters of concern to us.
You tended to our queries without hesitation and with personal concern for which we were very grateful since we were the go-between for ourselves as well as our friends joining us from N. Ireland who also depended on us to know the details even of their questions.
Thank you very much indeed. We will without hesitation be enthusiastic to refer others to you when we meet people who have an interest in those holiday offers.
Sincerely and “thank you” once again.
Charles
USA
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5 years of successful operations in Greece celebrated Qatar Airways in a gala dinner. The event was honored by the presence of the President of GNTO Mr Nikolaos Kanellopoulos, H.E. the Ambassador of Qatar Mr Mohamed AL Misnad, the Counselor of Qatar Mr Mohamed Al Hajri, the President of Arab Hellenic Chamber of Commerce Mr Christos Folias and the General Secretary Mr Mohamed ET El Khazmi, as well as representatives from our major Airport, GSA partners and marine/corporate/leisure travel agencies with whom Qatar Airways collaborated since June 2005, date of Athens route launch.
Mr Alexandros Michalopoulos Sales Manager Qatar Airways Greece & Cyprus opened the event with a speech on Qatar Airways worldwide phenomenal expansion and impressive growth in the Greek Market highlighting the fact that in 5 years time we grew from 4 flights to 14 flights per week. Since March 2010 Qatar Airways offers double daily flights ex Athens maximizing connectivity to most of the 92 destinations worldwide and helping passengers to reach favorite destinations as Dubai, Seychelles, Maldives, Beijing, Shanghai, Phuket, Bali, Osaka, Tokyo and many others. Finally Mr Michalopoulos briefed the guests on the international recognition Qatar Airlines has gained over the past years commemorating the impressive accolade of awards received by Skytrax. Qatar Airways has been ranked as a 5 star services airline, one of the top 5 airlines in the world, “Best Business Cabin Class” in the world, “Best Catering” for Business Cabin Class worldwide, “Best Airline in the Middle East”, “Best Services in the Middle East” this new category replaces “Best Cabin Crew in Middle East” comprising customer services provided along the entire customer services chain from reservations and ticketing to airport check-in and in-flight services.
The Easytraveller Team
People in India and Brazil are especially eager to travel in 2011 as a result of the economic recovery in progress. 49% of Brazilians intend to travel in 2011, with some possibly taking more trips than in previous years and 21% want a holiday similar to the one they took in 2010.
43% of the respondents from India are planning one or more trips, 33% are planning holiday trips similar to those they undertook in 2010.
16% of the Americans said they were unlikely to travel in 2011. 32% are planning to travel less next year, compared with 2010
Dr. Martin Buck, Director Competence Center Travel & Logistics, Messe Berlin: “As always, people’s travel plans for next year reflect the economic situation in their respective countries. India and Brazil are looking very promising. People there are beginning to travel and make plans. We can only hope that now that the world’s economies are recovering people in the United States will once again be planning holiday trips.“
According to the ITB World Travel Trends Report, which is compiled by IPK International and assesses the trends in the major source markets. 22% of people in France said they will take more trips next year compared to 2010. By contrast, German travel behaviour remains very stable. Overall, 49% in Germany said they would travel as often as they did in 2010. Only 16% said they would travel more.
The Swiss are among the nations most eager to travel. 47% of respondents in Switzerland plan to take as many trips in 2011 as they did this year. 32% even believe it is possible they will travel more in 2011.
As “Airport of year 2010” was rewarded among the leading air transportation companies Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos”, in recognition of quality of services to the passengers and his customers, but also for the powerful enterprising model and his competitiveness. This important rewarding was realized in Qatar, during the annual Doha Aviation Summit.
The airport of Athens was distinguished between important world airports, for the most excellent operation, the quality of his services, the innovation and the initiatives in the use of technology, but also for the business dexterity and his developmental strategy. The evaluation strengthened particularly the success of his enterprising model, with important contribution in the national and local economy, as well as his corporate responsibility to the passengers, the collaborators, and the workers. Moreover the airport distinguished for the pioneering programs of economic motives and the developmental of marketing practices that provides to the air companies, supporting consequently his collaborators in a particularly difficult period for the sector.
In the three day Congress of Air transportations of Doha, more than 200 representatives of airports, air companies and government owned institutions, examined the important challenges that faces the sector. For the airport of Athens, Middle East is the market that presents the best records last 3 years (January-September 2010: + 13.8% in the flights and + 10.9% in the passenger movement).
On behalf of Athens International Airport, the reward received by Mr Giorgos Kallimasias, Director of Corporate Planning, from the Chairman of Service of Civil Aviation of Qatar, HM Abdul Aziz Al Noaimi.
Mykonos Island was selected for one more year as the most popular island destination in Europe by the readers of American publication of Condé Nast Traveler. Mykonos exceeded once again the most competitive islands of Mediterranean and Southern Europe in the category “Best European Island”, between Ibiza, Kapri, Madeira and Majorca.
The results of research for the opinion of readers of magazine, for the period starting April 2010, are announced analytically in the November copy of magazine.
“We feel satisfaction but also compurgation that our island gained once again the preferences of American tourists. This means that the common effort of Municipality, professionals and all residents is in the right direction and has the recognition of thousands of readers of most recognized travelling magazine of world “, declared for the rewarding the Mayor of Mykonos, Mr. Athanassios Kousathanas – Megas.
High grades, however, in the preferences of American readers gained also Greek hotels resort, in the category of Best European Resort. Specifically in the category of best 20 were found Mykonos Grand Hotel Resort (in the beach of Saint Ioannis) and the Elounda Mare of Elounda SA, occupying the 15th and 17th place respectively.
The rewarding took place in a black tie Gala event at the IAC Building in New York, at the presence of personalities of World Tourism, important Americans tour operators and popular actors and television presenters. The ceremony of rewarding presented the actor Liev Schreiber and the model and actor Angie Harmon, while participated Matt Dillon, Marcia Gey Harden, Kate Rutherford, Kerry Washington, Penn Badgley and the composer Marvin Hamplisch.
The Easytraveller Team
Dear Apostolos,
Our Greek Vacation went great!
We enjoyed very much the cruise, besides some comments about the itinerary that were addressed directly to the cruise line.
I think that you provided an excellent service, always answering my emails on time, and being patient about all the questions and doubts I had. Being so far away and in a different country turned us a little suspicious about the transaction when we arrived… I hope you understand…
Overall we had a great time, we took home unforgettable moments, and hope we could return sometime to Greece and stay much more days.
Sincerely,
Irene.
Ecuador
According to the latest representative survey by ADAC, 71.2 % of the population are firmly intent on booking a lengthy holiday trip next year, nearly 6% more than in 2009. Together with an improving economy in Germany, the nation’s citizens are once more eager to go on trips for several weeks at a time. Dr. Martin Buck, Director of the Competence Centre Travel & Logistics of Messe Berlin: “Backed by a resurgent economy the tourism industry is picking up speed once again. The worst of the recession is now over and German citizens are again living up to their reputation as the world’s most travelled nation. In this context two categories are emerging: in the first category the principal focus is on the choice of destination, and in the other it is the travel budget that mainly decides where holidays will take place.“
Almost 60 % of the members polled are planning to take a trip even before the year is out. According to the survey, holiday decisions continue to be strongly influenced by individual economics. Nevertheless, holiday travel has become a priority again, regardless of social class. Thus, 41.1 of those polled who said their economic situation was “bad to very bad” are planning to go on a holiday trip before the end of the year.
More than 50 % of the members polled believe that package tours, hotels and cruises will become more expensive. In particular, the introduction of an air fare surcharge is expected to raise the cost of chartered flights (63.2 %) and scheduled flights (72 %). 79.1 % expect train fairs to rise in the future.
For Germans, their home country is by far the most popular holiday destination. More than 28 per cent of those polled are planning to take next year’s holidays somewhere between Flensburg and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Italy as a destination ranks second (at marginally over 11 %), followed by Spain (at close to 10 %).
Protocol of Collaboration was signed by the Greek Minister of Culture and Tourism Mr Pavlos Geroulanos and the Vice-president of National Tourism authority of China and head of Chinese delegation, Mr Jiang Du, concerning mutual actions in the tourist sector and exchange of know-how in the sector of tourist education and training.
Both sides agreed to encourage the direct air link of two countries and to strengthen the collaborations of tourist businessmen, cultural institutions, and journalistic missions.
Also contribute to the creation of tourist sustainable growth via the exchange of most optimal practices in the sector of Special and Alternative forms of tourism.
The Chinese delegation showed particular interest of attendance in the “Crossroad of Cultures 2013” in Thessalonica where the honored country will be China which committed to strengthen the institution with important presence.
Special attention was given to the efforts of Greek state to facilitate the Chinese visitors at the visa process.
The Easytraveller Team