Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau: 10 years of success for the Athenian tourism

The City of Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau celebrated 10 years of operation in a landmark year for Athens and the ACVB itself.

The Mayor of Athens, Mr. George Kaminis, congratulated the employees and executives of the Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau for the significant award as Europe's Leading Tourist Board 2018, which marks the successful 10-year course that set of Athens as a top destination globally.

ACVB operates under Athens Development and Destination Management Agency since April 2008. For 10 years, it communicates Athens as a leisure, city-break and MICE destination, by investing in and executing projects that reinforce the existing tourism infrastructure, showcase a unified and competitive city identity and promote the destination "Athens" in the international market.

Today, ACVB's 'Membership Program' counts more than 100 members, such as hotels, conference/exhibition centres and all services related to the travel trade and MICE sector.

During its 10 years of operation, ACVB has bid and actively supported the hosting of major international conferences such as IMTJ Medical Travel Summit (2018), America's Travel Agents Destination Expo (2018), and Travel Bloggers Exchange (2014). At the same time, it participates in the most important international exhibitions, B2B workshops and conferences such as IMEX, IBTM, and ICCA.

The annual event for showcasing Athens, Travel Trade Athens, has become one of the top tourism events in the local market. Over the last six years TTA has organized more than 15,000 B2B meetings between 100 cherry-picked worldwide buyers and 100 top-notch local suppliers, all top travel trade and MICE professionals. Travel Trade Athens has established itself as the signature event that brings together leading Greek and international tourism professionals in the city.

ACVB has also launched a course of activities designed to demonstrate the destination’s competitive advantages and showcase the city’s convention infrastructure in a vibrant, interactive and lively manner. The Athens Roadshow, took place in Brussels and London, targeting local senior associates of large Associations, event companies and corporates with headquarters in the respective city, and attendance was by invitation only. More Roadshows are expected to take place in 2019.

During the 10 years celebration event, the annual review of 2018 and the action plan for the 2019-2020 years were presented to the ACVB members and partners. Mrs. Maria Logotheti, Chairman of the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency (ADDMA) referred to the strategic initiatives the City of Athens undertook in a very difficult conjuncture and thanked the ACVB members who fought to retain an effective and competitive visitor’s economy during the last years.

Mr. Alexis Galinos, Managing Director of the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency (ADDMA), referred to the importance of the partnership model of This is Athens & Partners. Mr. Galinos presented the Partnership's plan for the next three years, including projects, actions and interventions in the city that relate to the development, management, and promotion of the destination. He also stressed out that "all ACVB initiatives are embraced by This is Athens & Partners, a unique partnership among the City of Athens, the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), AEGEAN, the Athens International Airport, TEMES, Lamda Development and Lampsa. Such a partnership focuses on the development and upgrade of Athens as a destination, as well as the effective promotion of the city internationally ".

Speeches were completed with the presentation of Mrs. Eliza Tsolakou, General Manager of ACVB, who presented the annual review for 2018 and the strategic plan for 2019-2020 period. She stated that "2019 is going to build up on the solid foundation that was established the past 10 years and put into action a robust investment plan which will leverage Athens potential as a conference destination".

www.athenscvb.gr