Athens News Agency: News in English, 11-01-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] Alexandria attack condemned

[02] Holiday travel slumps

[01] Alexandria attack condemned

Foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas, in a telephone contact with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmet Aboul Gheit, expressed the government's support and condolences, while the foreign ministry issued a statement by ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras condemning the attack. (ANA-MPA)

Delavekouras expressed "outright condemnation of the abhorrent terrorist attack at a church in Alexandria that targeted the faithful who had gone to pray". (ANA-MPA)

"This barbarous, criminal act, that cost the lives of more than 20 people, Christians and Moslems alike, reminds us once again how important and how necessary our common struggle against terrorism is," Delavekouras said in his statement, adding that "there is nothing that can justify or legitimise random violence, from wherever it originates." (ANA-MPA)

Droutsas is expected to have a telephone contact with Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria on Sunday. (ANA-MPA)

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[02] Holiday travel slumps

The reduction in holiday travel mainly concerns the middle incomes, which are traditionally the staple clientele of travel bureaus, which attribute the decline chiefly to the economic crisis, according to representatives of Athens-based travel offices.

Organised trips to European countries, in particular, fell by 45-50 percent over the holidays, while domestic tourism dropped by 25 percent, Christoforos Mouzakis, director of organised trips to European destinations at a major travel agency in Athens, told ANA-MPA.

He said that the 400, 500 and 700 euros travel package visitors to central European destinations -- mainly civil servants and public sector employees, was the category worst hit, followed by young couples and families, indicating that the cause was the economic crisis.

Conversely, however, the more expensive packages for destinations abroad, such as the US, were not affected, as such destinations have a limited number of customers to begin with and also attract higher income travelers.

Mouzakis further noted that most of the travelers booked their trips at the last minute, waiting first for the special discount packages to be announced by the travel bureaus.

Another Athens-based travel bureau director for ticket and hotel booking, Roula Krezia, told ANA-MPA that a slump was recorded over the holidays in airline ticket bookings for such destinations as Prague, Vienna and Budapest which, she noted, are both inexpensive destinations and the local hotels were offering reduced prices.

Krezia further noted that travelers over the holidays generally avoided organised trips abroad and opted instead for individual bookings, seeking inexpensive solutions over the internet. Indeed, she added, a slump was also recorded in the most popular domestic destinations, such as Pilion and the Zagorochoria, while the destinations closer to Athens, such as Nafplio and Loutraki, fared a bit better.

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