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Crete - A new summer surprise from Malév

PlacementCreativeBrand1585Crete is one of the most popular European summer destinations, offering the perfect blend of culture and relaxation. The largest island in Greece is famous for the Palace of Knossos, renowned Cretan hospitality, its charming villages, gorgeous beaches and unequalled natural attractions such as Samaria, Europe's longest gorge.

So, this summer Malév is integrating a charter flight into its scheduled timetable. The airline is targeting individual travellers who prefer to book their own accommodation and plan their own holiday programmes.

The addition of the capital of Crete, Heraklion extends still further the list of Malév's hit summer destinations. Malév reckons that the this new destination will soon become equally popular and the 20 tickets available for each flight will quickly find buyers. The airline is making a total of 1200 seats available on the once-a-week flights running from mid-June to the end of September. Of course, the majority of seats are reserved by travel agencies for their own package programmes.

Budapest - Heraklion - from 12 June to 25 September 2010

Flight No. Route Dept. Arr. Days
MA1918 BUD-HER 08.25 11.40 Saturday
MA1919
HER-BUD
 12.30 13.45 Saturday



 

The First Hospice Hostel in Chania

hospice-posterHospice hostels are accommodation hostels for those who suffer from cancer and are already at the latest stages of the disease.
The personnel of the hospice offer pharmaceutical, psychological and spiritual assistance to the sufferers.
The main goal is to take care of these people, helping them live their last days with dignity.
In Europe, this type of hospice is already established and common, receiving people who cannot stay in hospitals anymore. Of course, this is something difficult, because the hospice has to be extremely well equipped, with the necessary medical supplies and the equipment needed for the support of the sufferers.

The first hospice hostel will begin operating in Chania at the Therissos Municipality within 2010, as a result of the initiative of the Association of Volunteers "Orizontas".
The Hunting Club of Chania made the announcement a few days ago, supporting the goal with 10,000 Euros.
According to the President of the Association, Mr Adontakis, the hospice will be built on land offered by the Municipality of Therissos, an area which is very close to the city of Chania.
 
Mr Adontakis also thanked the Hunting Club for its help and support, denoting that many local associations and clubs are interested in supporting this important initiative and project, both practically and theoretically.
Mr Adontakis said that the needs are immense and people know it, so they thank everyone who helps to make this project come true, because it is high tie that people took the initiatives in their hands in order to deal with their problems.
The Association of Volunteers “Orizontas” is operating a second hospice in Athens, for those who come to the capital from Chania.
“Whoever comes to Athens from Chania, to support a person of his family doing chemotherapy in Athens, can stay for free at the hospice.
According to the President of the 1st Hunting Club in Chania, Charalambos Marinakis, all hunting licenses were charged with 2 euros each in order to provide the needed money for the financial support of the project. Mr Marinakis said that 5,000 licenses provided the 10,000Euros given to Orizontas Association. He also mentioned that the Hunting Club always participates in philanthropic projects and missions, assisting in any financial and practical way possible, since the Club of Chania is one of the four largest clubs in Greece, with 5,040 active members.
 
 
 

"Day of open door " to the wineries of Crete

wineryOn weekend May 15 and 16 five wineries in western Crete members in network of winemakers of prefectures Chania, Rethymnon, involved in the Hellenic event "Day of Open Door."
Wineries will be open from 10:00a.m. to 18:00p.m. for a tour and test the wines and spirits.

The wineries in Western Crete, which will be open on weekend May 15 and 16, are:
Karavitaki Vineyards (tel: 28240 23381 Mob: 6944327356)
Loupaki Estate (tel: 28240 91392 Mob: 6948886184)
Manousaki Winery (www.nostoswines.gr Tel: 28210 78787, mob 6976118961)
Douraki Winery (www.dourakiswinery.gr Tel: 28250 51761 Mob 6971892996)
Pnevmatikaki Winery (www.pnevmatikakis.com.gr, tel: 28220 31740, mob 6945871588)
 

Anek Lines announces daytime routes to Crete

ANEK Lines announces the opening of daily routes to the island for summer 2010 from mid June to early September in conjunction with special offers on ticket prices, tickets start at 19 euros.

Summer 2010 - from and to Chania (June - July - August - September)

PIRAEUS - CHANIA Departure: 12.00 Arrival: 19.30
CHANIA - PIRAEUS Departure: 10.00 Arrival: 18.30

PIRAEUS - CHANIA Departure: 10.00 Arrival: 18.30
CHANIA - PIRAEUS Departure: 12.00 Arrival: 19.30
Summer 2010 - Chania
Summer 2010 - from and to Heraklion (July - August)
PIRAEUS - Heraklion Departure: 10.00 Arrival: 18.30
Heraklion - PIRAEUS Departure: 09.00 Arrival: 17.30

PIRAEUS - Heraklion Departure: 09.30 Arrival: 18.00
Heraklion - PIRAEUS Departure: 10.00 Arrival: 18.30
Summer 2010 - Heraklion
 

Blue Star Ferries now in Chania from 23rd of April 2010

BLUE_HORIZONAttica Group is pleased to announce the launch of a new service to be operated by the car-passenger ferry BLUE HORIZON as of Friday 23rd April 2010 in the route PIRAEUS - CHANIA
Ultramodern BLUE HORIZON has a speed of 23 knots per hour, capacity of 1,505 passengers, 580 of which can be accommodated in 184 cabins, and garage decks for 900 private vehicles or alternatively for 130 trucks and 70 private vehicles.
BLUE HORIZON offers A la Carte restaurant, Self-Service restaurant, Bars, shops, swimming pool, play ground, lounges, air type seats and all first class facilities and services on board for a comfortable and pleasant trip.
BLUE HORIZON departs daily from Piraeus to Chania at 14:45 and from Chania to Piraeus at 23:00.
The deployment of BLUE HORIZON doubles the daily itineraries in the route Piraeus-Chania.
Attica Group, through the launch of BLUE HORIZON in Chania and the established service of SUPERFAST XII in the route of Heraklion, strengthens its presence in Crete, by offering high standard services to the two main ports of the island and by contributing to the increase of the total traffic to Crete in a period of economic recession.
Athens, April 23, 2010

 

Samaria Gorge opens its "gates" on the 1st of May

samaria gorgeSamaria Gorge opens its "gates" for the entire length of the journey on the 1st of May.
The entry is permitted all along the main path (Xiloskalo - St. Roumeli).
It also announced the operation of the Information Center at Xyloskalo (Omalos) the days on Wednesdays and Sundays from 11:00a.m. to 14:00p.m.
The announcement of Division of Forestry noted, "if weather conditions change, to the extent that problems arise in the smooth passage of the visitors, the Department of Forestry Chania can decide on the prohibition the entry of visitors to the National Forest.
 

Agreement between CED and the island of Crete, Greece

The World Centre of Excellence for Destinations (CED) announced the signing of an important agreement with the island of Crete, in Greece, with the goal of implementing its System of Measures for Excellence in Destinations (SMED) in the largest of the Greek islands.
This agreement was officially confirmed today by Ms. Brigitta Papastavrou of ELAGRO, Mr. Schinaraki, Head of Prefecture of Heraklion and President of the Cretan Quality Agreement, and the President of the CED, Mr. Andre Vallerand, in the presence of Mr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, Ms. Aggeliki Gerekou, Greek Minister of Tourism, Dr. Cesar Castaneda Vazquez del Mercado, Director of Operations of the CED, and Mr. Manolis Psarros, Head of Sustainable Tourism Development/ELAGRO.
This agreement aims to establish a tourism profile of the Island of Crete and assist it in gauging itself to face international competition, while facilitating the attainment of its objectives in sustainable development. The SMED also aims to improve the quality of the experience offered to tourists and to strengthen the geographical character of a tourist destination (environment, culture, heritage, well-being of the residents, etc.) while strategically identifying major issues facing tourist destinations around the world.
“Greece is the first country to identify the SMED as a national tool in several destinations. Moreover the Island of Crete is the second SMED evaluation conducted in Greece as part of this partnership relationship with ELAGRO”, noted Mr. Andre Vallerand. To date, twelve destinations around the world have been evaluated by the SMED. Several others have expressed their interest in the SMED and new agreements will be announced shortly.
Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the CED has signed partnership agreements with Canada Economic Development for the Quebec regions, the Ministere du Tourisme du Quebec and the Ministere des Affaires Municipales et des Regions du Quebec.
 

Greece is the fourth most popular tourist destination in the EU for the year 2010

Greece is the fourth most popular tourist destination in the European Union for the year 2010, according to the EU Eurobarometer poll. The most popular tourist destination in the EU is Spain, followed by Italy and France. Responding to the question "where do you intend to go for holidays in 2010," 8.3 percent said Spain, 6.1 Italy, 5.8 France and 3.9 Greece.
According to Eurobarometer, in 2010, 76 percent of Greeks intend to take holidays in stay Greece while 2 percent intend to visit Italy and Germany.
Some 80% of Europeans continue to travel for their holidays according to a new Eurobarometer survey on ‘The attitudes of Europeans towards tourism 2010’. Only 20% of over 30,000 randomly selected citizens were almost certain that they will not travel in 2010, which is significantly below the proportion of non-travellers in 2009 (33%). EU citizens increasingly prefer to spend their holidays in traditional tourist destinations (57%), while 28% would rather go “off the beaten track” to emerging destinations. Tourism is one of Europe's most important service industries, accounting for 5% of Europe's GDP and 6% of employment.

(Source: ANA MPA) Invest in Greece; Europa; Balkans.Com
 

Promotion of Greek gastronomy

Greece should focus on promoting gastronomy as an additional tourism attraction in the next five years, by investing around 400,000 in marketing actions, the country’s Federation of Tourism Enterprises (SETE) said on Tuesday.
The plan was presented during a news conference as part of a SETE initiative to upgrade the quality and enriching the country’s portfolio in tourism services and products. SETE said a precondition to promoting Greek gastronomy abroad was including gastronomy in the portfolio of Greek tourism and adopting full employment of a group of professionals in the field.
SETE also called for the transformation of Hellenic Tourism Organisation to a marketing organization for Greek tourism.
 

EasyJet flies to Chania

ejheader2easyJet, the largest UK airline announced a new route, London-Chania across its European network in 2010. Flights are 3 times per week as follows:
  • London (Gatwick) to Chania from 23 May (Tue, Wed & Sun)
 
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