Hatzis decided to leave

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   Alexis Hatzis, head of the Greek Travel Representative Office, will resign his post at the end of October, and then he will return to Greece and continue his work at the central Greek National Tourism Organization. Hatzis told this information to a BANKO journalist on Tuesday, October 4th. ‘The reason for my resignation is very simple. I resign purely because I have worked for my office for 11 years, and I feel it is time to change something,’ said Alexis Hatzis. ‘It is possible that we will not know the name of a new representative until November. The office will operate as usual; we have a very professional team.’
   This year’s results of the Greek Tourist Office are impressive indeed: the flow of Russian tourists to Greece has increased over 40%. About 50% of Russian tourists spent 15 days in Greece and selected 4*, 5* or luxury category hotels. ‘The money generated from Russian tourists has fully covered advertising expenses and exhibition costs,’ Hatzis stated. ‘Indeed, we proved to be a very cost-effective enterprise’.
   As the head of the Greek Travel Representative Office noted, this success might be closely connected to his transfer to the central Greek National Tourism Organization. The operators of the destination also highly appreciate the work of Hatzis’s team this season. ‘The office had been blamed for negligence for several years, but it was due to the lack of finance’, says Andrey Kuznetsov, General Director of ‘South Cross Bureau’. ‘As soon as the office received the necessary means, the Greeks carried out several thought-out and effective campaigns’. The successor of Mr. Hatzis has to meet high expectations of the market players to continue the positive tendency. ‘The commitment of the Greek state to Russia should grow this year,’ says Aleksander Tsandekidy, Director General of ‘Musenidis travel’. ’It looks like it is not only new resorts and sports that will be promoted, but also Greek regions well known for Russian tourists.