• 1001 'Greek' Nights

The 2nd Greek Deluxe Travel Roadshow for the promotion of Greek luxury tourism in the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) market was held on February 25. The event was supported by the Greek Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the non-profit organisation Marketing Greece. Greek luxury hotel representatives travelled to Abu Dhabi for B2B meetings with local travel agents and tour operators with the purpose of attracting the Arab market’s high income travellers. According to SETE-intelligence, in 2014, tourist arrivals from the UAE rose by 33%. What’s more, international reports show that travel receipts from tourists originating from the Middle East and North Africa will reach a buoyant €80 billion by 2020.

Greek News Agenda: Tourism Workshop @ Tehran

• Arab funds for tourism

Investment schemes targeting tourist facilities are the focus of Arab funds, which began with the Olayan Group, Saudi Arabia’s strongest business group, joining Costa Navarino as the fourth shareholder together with the Greek owners who founded the resort in the southwestern Peloponnese. Over the next three years, the Olayan Group intends to bring forward a €100 million project to upgrade current facilities in the area. Another initiative comes from business magnate and investor, Al-Waleed bin Talal, member of the Saudi royal family.

The focus in on hotels located on the Athens riviera and there have been talks between the Greek and Saudi side to bring the Four Seasons luxury chain in Greece. The Saudi Prince visited Greece in 2014 and was received by the Greek Ministry of Tourism.

Greek News Agenda: Greece - Saudi Arabia Tourism Agreement Signed (February 2014)

• Greek-Eurasian Business Council

The newly established Greek-Eurasian Business Council (GEBC) begins today to promote trade and business relations between Greece and the countries participating in the Eurasian Economic Union, namely Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia.

"This is a step of extroversion, at a critical time for the country, as this dynamic and emerging market of 176 million people, can be a privileged field of action for Greek enterprises," Spyros Kouvelis, president of the board of directors of GEBC, told Athens News Agency.

The event will be held with the participation of the Eurasian Economic Commission (the executive body of the Eurasian Economic Union) and the Trade and Industry Associations of member-states along with Greek business entities; officials from the Greek MFA, Tourism and Rural Development Ministries will also attend.

The GEBC will organize in the coming months business missions and B2B meetings in order to stimulate business and trade cooperation.