Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-02-01

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Greece-Spain tourism relations

[02] Children's book exhibition opens

[01] Greece-Spain tourism relations

Speaking to reporters, after the meeting -on the sidelines of Fitur an international tourism fair in Madrid- that Greece and Spain agreed to establish a steady and fundamental communication. Spiliotopoulos said the two countries were not rivals, as the world market believes, and stressed that both countries needed to cooperate to meet the challenges of quality and a turn away from the one-dimension model of ?sun and sea?. Mrs Amparo Fernandz Gonzalez noted that both countries had many in common in the tourism industry.

The Greek minister, addressing an event organized by the Greek Tourism Organisation in the Spanish capital, said that tourism was of national interest and reiterated that Greece must not follow the tourism development model of Spain.

A total of 200,000 Spanish citizens visited Greece in 2006, up 33 pct form the previous year, with early figures showing an increase of around 15-20 pct for 2007. Greek tour operators support a further increase in scheduled flights between the two countries and noted that Spanish were high-quality customers, opting for four- and five-star hotels, while they were second after Americans in sea cruises.

The Greek minister also visited Queen Sophia and will attend Euroleagueâs draw on Monday.

[02] Children's book exhibition opens

The exhibition, under the slogan "Reading is every child's right", was inaugurated by Education Minister Evripidis Stylianidis and will continue until Feb. 4.

The exhibition is co-organised by the National Book Centre and the culture ministry.

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