Tourism

Greece's first regulatory framework on property rentals via websites such as Airbnb, HomeAway, FlipKey and HouseTrip will introduce a 5 percent tax per night and impose a fine of 50,000 euros on owners who do not enter their details in the relevant register. Owners' revenues will also be taxed at the rates used for rental incomes (between 15 and 45 percent), depending on the income level.

BELGRADE - Serbia has been chosen as the vice-chair of the Executive Council of UNWTO for 2017, and the chair will be Azerbaijan, said a statement of the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunication.

There are 35 hotels fewer this year than there were in 2015 based on the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels’ official record of registered members, constituting a major blow to investment prospects for Greek tourism.

Serbia has been chosen as the vice-chair of the Executive Council of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for 2017.

During this time the chair will be Azerbaijan, the Serbian Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications said on Wednesday.

A total of 34 hotels have been certified as spa centres. 106 applications have been filed so far and the procedure continues, announced Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova.

Angelkova underlined that not all hotels may use the label SPA. The hotels have to fulfill all requirements of the regulation in order to do so.

In an attempt to boost alternative tourism in the region, the Municipality of Hersonissos decided to expand the network of bicycle routes featured in its brochure, which contains 9 different routes at all levels of hardship, including maps, photographs and other relevant information.

Data released by the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) revealed the negative impact the refugee crisis in Greece and the terrorist attacks in Turkey had on the tourism industry in both countries. According to the details of the study, tourist arrivals, as well as the aggregate revenue generated were adversely affected over the past 7 months in 7 countries in the Mediterranean basin.

Turkey's tourism revenue decreased by 32.7 percent to $8.3 billion in the third quarter of 2016 compared to the same period of last year, amid a dramatic plunge in the number of foreign tourists visiting the country, data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) showed on Oct. 31.

Tourists spent an average per visit of $686 in the mentioned period, according to data.

A number of important investments are under way in Greece's tourism sector, and this is of course very good news for the economy.

Prospects are strong indeed, and they have the potential of turning tourism into an engine to power the country to recovery.

Additionally he pointed out that the country Slovenia improve its tourism records because of hard work, not because some other locations are temporarily affected by crises of different nature. Moreover, Dr Taleb emphasizes, that tourism can have a transformative power to foster peace and reconciliation.