Looking for a budget Easter holiday break? Greece is expecting you!

Are you looking for the ideal Easter holiday break destination that combines great springtime weather, amazing beaches, traditional charm and low prices? Well, your search is... Crete!

People who think about visiting Crete often ask: When is the best time to visit Crete?
   

There are many answers to this question, but for people who want a unique experience of the real life in Crete and Greece, I would suggest them to choose the week of the Greek Orthodox Easter.... 

Season 2015

Non-refundable Rates for Low Season (25/03/2015 - 30/04/2015)
 
Two – roomed Suite (2 persons) 65€
Three– roomed Suite (4-5persons) 95€

 Free sun beds loungers and umbrellas on the beach.

We have obtained for our clients a 12% discount (www.alianthos-group.com) and you can pick up your car directly from the airport .

 (Note, Orthodox Easter this year falls on April 12, a week after Catholic Easter.)

http://www.plakiassuites.com

Greece Tourism Gets Off on the Right Foot, Despite Challenges

Despite the recent political changes in the country, incoming tourism to Greece seems to have taken off with an increased number of arrivals from abroad.

The travel surplus increased by 50 percent due to a significant rise in non-residents’ arrivals in January, even though the corresponding receipts rose by just 9 percent.

According to provisional data from the Bank of Greece, incoming traffic in January came to 606,000 passengers, up 49.9 percent year-on-year, leading to a 9.1 percent rise in travel receipts at 14 million euros, with the average spending per trip dropping by 27 percent.
( full article:gtp)

Tourism Professionals Decide to Fight Illegal Accommodation in Greece

The Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), has decided to fight back against illegal tourism accommodation in Greece.
Speaking at the annual general assembly of the Confederation of Greek Enterprises for Rented Villas & Apartments (SEEDDE), SETE’s president Andreas Andreadis announced that a specialized company will be assigned to carry out electronic checks to tourism accommodation that is illegally rented out for the short-term.
The data collected will be delivered to the country’s tourism and tax authorities for penalties to be imposed.
Mr. Andreadis said that illegal tourism accommodation is a “huge wound” to the industry as some 40 percent of Greece’s total overnights per year are booked in such establishments.
Data from the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels  reveal that the annual lost revenue resulting from illegal leasing practices adds up to some two billion euros.
According to reports, recent Greek legislation requires for a special sticker to be present in all rooms of tourism accommodation enterprises as proof of legitimate operation. Otherwise, owners will face a fine of 1,000 euros. The penalty can reach 50,000 euros if it is discovered that the accommodation enterprise is not even operating under the state’s special operational seal.
(source: gtp)

More than 100,000 visitors tour ‘The Greeks’ exhibition in Montreal

Since its opening last December 12

Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal’s Archaeology and History Complex, has welcomed some 100,000 visitors since the opening of the exhibition “The Greeks – Agamemnon to Alexander the Great” last December, an indication of the enthusiasm this fascinating and never-before-seen exhibition has generated.
There are less than four weeks left to see the exhibition in Montréal before it continues its North American odyssey, travelling to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, the Field Museum in Chicago and, finally, to the National Geographic Museum in Washington.
An enormously popular success
Making its world premiere at Pointe-à-Callière, the exhibition has met with great interest among visitors, as evidenced by the record-breaking winter attendance figures at the museum. The program of lectures held to coincide with the exhibition has sold out, both at the Museum and at the Université de Montréal. The various books on the exhibition have also enjoyed great sales. The Greeks also drew many visitors during the school break, another indicator of the popularity of this exhibition covering over 5,000 years of Hellenic history and culture, taking visitors on an exceptional and fascinating journey back to the origins of the cradle of Western civilization and its heritage.
 
A fascinating period and treasures of humanity
Greek Antiquity is a rich and captivating period, a time populated by mythical heroes and historical figures, under the watchful gaze of the gods on Mount Olympus. The exhibition is divided into six zones that introduce us to this great civilization and showcase rare and priceless artefacts. Visitors will meet many famous characters from Greek history, including Homer, Aristotle, Plato, King Philip II of Macedon, and King Leonidas of Sparta. The heritage of ancient Greece, which we can still see all around us today in various aspects of our daily lives-such as politics and philosophy, arts and literature, mathematics, architecture, medicine, and sports-is clearly illustrated in the exhibition. Among the many highlights of the exhibition are a number of artefacts that are true treasures of humanity never before displayed outside Greece.
A hands-on experience
The exhibition offers visitors a range of interactive elements and items they can actually touch. Visitors are notably invited to handle a Cycladic female figurine, a block of marble, a reproduction of a warrior’s helmet, and a sword. There are also over twenty videos shown in the various exhibition zones, most of them produced by the National Geographic Society, the Acropolis Museum, the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, and the Canadian Museum of History.
Last chance to see the exhibition
The exhibition, which brings together over 550 valuable artefacts from 21 Greek museums under the aegis of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, runs until April 26. Remember that the Museum is open every day except Monday, and is also open on Wednesday evenings until 9 pm (only for visits of The Greeks exhibition). The Museum will exceptionally be open on Easter Monday, April 6, from 10 am to 5 pm.
(source: protothema)

Homemade jam with nuts and dried figs

Jam with a unique taste to enjoy with yogurt, creams, ice-cream, cakes, bread or with whatever you fancy…

 
Ingredients
6 dried figs
375gr. walnuts
1.5lt water
½ vanilla
450g. granulated sugar
1.5lt water for soaking
Preparation method
Step 1
Leave walnuts in cold water to soak for a day. Also, place dried figs to water for 4 hours before using.
Step 2
Cut the vanilla in half and then scrape it with a sharp knife, then put the seeds in a small bowl.
Step 3
Produce syrup with water, vanilla (seeds) and sugar. Drain the nut flesh and pour into the syrup. Simmer on low heat for about 1½ to 2 hours until softened.
Step 4
Remove from the heat and strain. Remove the vanilla pod.
Step 5
Puree the nuts with figs and ¼ of syrup in a blender. If necessary add a little more syrup until to achieve the jam texture.

Source: Olive Magazine
Chef: Dimitris Chronopoulos

Greek vacation anyone? Tourism set to boom - CNBC

Diplomatic relations between Athens and the rest of Europe may be at a low ebb, but there is one part of Greece that is clamoring for overseas visitors. And a plunging euro could make it the perfect place for a vacation this year.
Christina Kalogera, director of the Greek National Tourism Organization's U.K. and Ireland office, told CNBC that Greece was hopeful that 2015 would be a good year for the tourism industry, particularly with the euro weakening against the dollar and sterling.
"We are very optimistic that 2015 will be another successful year for Greek tourism as the hotel, restaurant, and bar scene is booming and we are seeing young entrepreneurs getting more actively involved with the tourism sector," Kalogera told CNBC Friday.
"There are new innovative products provided by hotels and multiple new restaurants and bars openings especially in Athens and Thessaloniki, so with the euro also at an 11-year low this is definitely the ideal time to visit Greece."

 Around 18 million international tourists arrived in Greece in 2013, according to the UN World Tourism Organization's 2014 report on "Tourism Highlights."

In addition to that data, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) 2014 report found that travel and tourism contributed 28.3 billion euros ($31.2 billion) to the Greek economy in 2013 (16.3 percent of gross domestic product). That was forecast to rise by 3.0 percent in 2014 and by 3.7 percent per year to 41.8 billion euros (19.1 percent of GDP) in 2024. The service sector as a whole accounts for about 40 percent of the country's GDP, according to the CIA's "World Factbook."
Further demonstrating how important the travel and tourism industry is to Greece, the WTTC said the total contribution of travel and tourism in terms of total employment in Greece was 18.2 percent, or 657,000 jobs. That's a significant amount in a country with a high unemployment rate of around 25 percent.
Hotel managers like Dorina Stathopoulou are also optimistic that 2015 could be a bumper year for the travel trade, with occupancy levels for summer already looking good.
"We're very busy, this is a booming period for us," Stathopoulou, hotel manager of three hotels in Athens, told CNBC. "This started last September, from on then we knew it would be a good year. For example, we have 92 percent occupancy for May, 80 percent already for June."

Plakias: Photo of the day

Plakias is 35 kilometres south of Rethymno, on the southern coast of Crete on the Libyan Sea and is a popular tourist resort well-known for its award-winning Blue Flag sandy beach stretching for 1400 metres.

It combines everything as it offers visitors many facilities: surgery, pharmacy, all kinds of shops, car hire, post office, ATM, many tavernas, exciting nightlife, organized beaches (Souda, Damnoni, Ammoudi, Schinaria), diving centre, free-riding centre, and an extensive marina where even large yachts can berth.
Photos