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Staikouras: Progress in the modernisation of railway signalling and telemanagement

Staikouras: Progress in the modernisation of railway signalling and telemanagement

he modernisation of the signalling and telemanagement systems, as well as the installation of the European Train Control System (ETCS) on the SKA-Promachonas railway line, the main railway axis of the country, is proceeding methodically in spite of the chronic problems and great difficulties, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Christos Staikouras said on Wednesday.

Athens: Deep pockets opt out

Athens: Deep pockets opt out

The arrivals of tourists in Athens may be on the rise, but tourists aren't spending a single euro more. So far, the benefits of tourist traffic in the country are not reflected in the turnover of commercial stores.

The prolonged heat limited the purchasing movement, resulting in turnover losses reaching 30% compared to the corresponding period last year. The first two weeks of the summer sales period, which are traditionally the best in terms of buying traffic, were "burned" by the high temperatures of July, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.

The goal of the retail trade this summer is for the total turnover of the two months of July-August to move above last year's threshold of 6.6 billion euros and to exceed 7 billion euros this year. The increase in turnover in the above two months is also based on the increased tourist flows, during the period of summer sales, where foreign visitors enter the sum of the turnover with "imported consumption".

Tourists aren't shopping

While the tourist season started with a headwind, with arrivals and revenues moving from 2019, however the two months of May – June came and grounded the excitement.

Devastating fires in Rhodes, one of the country's most popular tourist destinations, have sunk tourism traffic, while defamatory comments on social media by foreign visitors about profiteering in Mykonos have curbed tourism revenue.

Market circles speaking to OT say that "there are tourists in Athens, but they don't shop". Despite attractive prices and offers across the market, corporate coffers look rather empty.

What the same circles say is that it doesn't matter how many visitors will prefer Greece this year, but how deep a pocket they will have, hence the targeting of high income tourism.

This year Greece lost the Chinese, who after Covid and the quarantine imposed on them by the government prioritize traveling to other European cities such as London, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona... and then Athens and Greece in general. Tourists bought a variety of products and the more financially prominent gravitated toward luxury items.

However, businessmen consider August crucial for the growth of tourist revenues, as it is the month with the largest traffic from abroad, while also having high expectations for the volume of arrivals in September.

Receipts

May was a big stimulating "injection" for tourist receipts.

According to data from the Bank of Greece (BoG), revenues in May increased by 24.8% compared to the corresponding month of 2022, reaching 1.75 billion euros.

As for travel traffic in May, through airports it increased by 14.2% compared to May 2022 and that through road border stations by 9.8%. The increase in inbound travel came from a rise in travel from both EU-27 countries by 12.7% and from non-EU-27 countries by 15.8%.

Who and how much they spent last year

Americans spend the most per visitor in our country, Germans are more conservative in their travel expenses than other Europeans in times of crisis, while the British do not "understand" inflation and are expected to be the protagonist for 2023, in our country.

These conclusions derive from tourism research institute INSETE's Market Outlook "Travel behavior and economic conditions in the main inbound tourism markets - 2023".

After the Americans, whose per capita expenditure in the country exceeds 1,000 euros (1,101 euros), the Swiss follow with 879 euros, the Germans with 748 euros, the Austrians with 741 euros and the French complete the top five with 726 euros.

The figures refer to 2022, while how the total travel expenses, arrivals and therefore the per capita expenditure will fluctuate this year is still in question.

Cycladic: The goal is the air connection of the Cyclades with the North Aegean

Cycladic: The goal is the air connection of the Cyclades with the North Aegean

Cycladic, which began operations in October 2022, seeks to overcome a series of bureaucratic obstacles in order to "open its wings" to other destinations beyond the six islands it currently serves with three planes, namely: Astypalaia, Paros, Milos , Syros, Naxos and Heraklion. Cycladic's business plan includes the air connection of the Cyclades islands with the North Aegean. It also plans to add Santorini, Mykonos and Rhodes to its network.

Lipsi: Island with no sunbeds

Lipsi: Island with no sunbeds

"We, as a municipal authority, have never allowed umbrellas and deckchairs to exist on beaches for years. And we did this because our island is small. The geomorphology of the beaches does not allow you to place even a few, and we also know very well that the right you grant to some entrepreneurs is always circumvented", said the mayor of Lipsi, Fotis Maggos, speaking to public broadcaster ERT.

"Thank you for doing your best": Rhodes girl's drawing of Slovak firefighters

"Thank you for doing your best": Rhodes girl's drawing of Slovak firefighters

"Thank you for doing your best fighting into the fires," reads the drawing that a girl from Rhodes gave to the mission of Slovak firefighters who were recently on the island to fight wildfires.

The little girl and her mother approached the deputy head of the mission, Jozef Húšek, while they were supplying a fire truck with water, and offered him the drawing, expressing her gratitude for their help in dealing with the forest fires that hit Rhodes. "We were filling another vehicle with water from a source that was quite far away. The young girl along with her mom approached us and gave us this beautiful picture. The girl said to us, thank you very much for everything you do for us. We appreciate this so much" Jozef Húšek from the ground forest firefighting unit of the Slovak Fire Service describes to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

"This gift will be hung on the wall of our fire station and will remind us how difficult the situation was for the residents of Rhodes. We are happy to help the Greek firefighters and the Greek people through the European Civil Protection Mechanism. I would like to thank every firefighter for their good work and cooperation and wish them to stay safe and take care," he emphasizes.

The drawing

drawing Rhodes

From July 21 to 28, 31 Slovak firefighters together with 15 vehicles were in Rhodes following Greece's request to the European Civil Protection Mechanism for aerial assistance and also for the dispatch of firefighting units and firefighting vehicles to help deal with the forest fires that were ravaging the country.

This is not the first time Slovak firefighters have helped Greece as they participated in extinguishing the fires in Northern Evia in 2021.

"Fires in Greece are different compared to those in Slovakia. We already had experience from the fires in Greece in 2021 in Evia. But the fire in Rhodes was a little different. The situation was bad from the beginning, when we arrived in Rhodes, because of the strong winds that were blowing all the time, causing the fire to jump from one hill to another, but also the high temperatures that prevailed every day", he noted to AMNA.

During their stay in Rhodes they cooperated with their Greek colleagues by helping them, among other things, to supply their vehicles with water as they had a special vehicle with them. “We had with us a special vehicle that holds 21,000 liters of water, the beast, as we call it, and another that holds 9,000 liters of water. We carried water near the fire for other vehicles. If the faucet was not in good condition (poor pressure), we used the hotel swimming pools as a source of water as we have special pumps to draw water from various sources," he points out.

In Ancient Olympia since August 1, 20 Slovak firefighters

20 Slovak firefighters have taken up residence in Ancient Olympia since August 1st as part of the pre-installation program of European firefighters implemented for the second year in a row in Greece through the European Civil Protection Mechanism.

"The European Union honored us with the assignment of the political program for the pre-installation of European Firefighters in the summer of 2022. This is a preventive action that the newly established Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection embraced and adopted from the first moment, recognizing its added value. In this direction, two additional countries, France and Portugal, host European colleagues totaling 500, from 11 member states of the European Union", the Coordinator of Liaison Officers of Foreign Missions, Vassilis Bikas, underlines to AMNA.

"To the already great value of the program that proactively came to zero the distance and response time to natural disasters, I would add: 'if it is once beneficial to cooperate with colleagues, it is an ideal condition to cooperate with partners and friends at the same time,'" emphasized Mr. Bikas.

It is noted that more than 200 firefighters from six countries (Bulgaria, France, Germany, Romania, Slovakia and Malta) who are in Greece for the two months of July-August participate in the pre-installation program of the European Civil Protection Mechanism.

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