Positive stories: Tourism in Greece & more

More than 32.7 million tourists in Greece in 2023

More than 32.7 million tourists visited Greece last year, resulting in tourism revenues of €20.5 billion. According to data from the Bank of Greece, travel revenues increased by 15.7% compared to 2022 and stood at 20,459.5 billion euros. In the year 2023, inbound travel traffic also increased by 17.6% to 32,735.2 thousand travellers, compared to 27,835.5 thousand travellers in 2022.

Positive performance index for the Greek Flag

The Greek flag is once again among the flags which have a positive performance index according to the updated Flag State Performance Table of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS). The performance index concerns the implementation of the International Conventions of IMO and ILO, as well as the inspections of ships of the Greek registry carried out under the Paris MoU, Tokyo MoU and the US “Qualship21” initiative.

International Kids’ Art Contest 2024 “Today’s Stories on Ancient Vases”

The 11th International Kids’ Art Contest by the Museum of Cycladic Art, themed “Today’s stories on ancient vases” is addressed to children and teenagers aged 4-15 years old, from Greece and abroad. Participants are invited to depict a scene from their everyday life, by means of drawing, collage, photography or mixed media, and to integrate it into the outline of a vase. Through the competition, they have the opportunity to take a virtual tour of the permanent exhibition of the Museum of Cycladic Art “Scenes from Daily Life in Antiquity” https://kidscontest.cycladic.gr/en/activity/4os-orofos-skines-apo-tin-kathimerini-zoi-stin-archaiotita/, to learn about the private and public life of the ancient Greeks in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, as well as to explore the Museum digitally through videos and podcasts, with specially designed content for children https://kidscontest.cycladic.gr/en/explore/.

Entries to the competition until 22 April 2024: https://kidscontest.cycladic.gr/en/

The 2^nd GenAI Summit 2024 takes place in Athens

The 2^nd Generative AI Summit SE Europe took place in Athens, Greece from February 29 to March 2, with 3,000 live and 15,000 online participants. https://www.genaisummitseeurope.com/ It is an initiative to empower businesses, public and academic organizations in Greece, Southeast Europe and the Middle East to integrate Productive AI in a sustainable, fair and responsible way. This is done by involving the leading organizations producing Large Language Models with their members, top executives, academics/researchers, entrepreneurs & thought leaders participating for three days in solution and application presentations, discussions and hands-on workshops during the Summit, as well as thematic workshops-masterclasses every month until the 3rd Summit on 10-11 October 2024.

10th International Summer University “Greek Language, Culture and Media”

The 10th International Summer University ” Greek Language, Culture and Media” will take place in Boston from May 28 to June 2, 2024, dedicated to the dissemination and teaching of the Greek language to the Greek community in the USA. Academics, artists and journalists will discuss the future of our language with the Greeks of the Diaspora. The program is addressed to undergraduate and graduate students, PhDs, teachers, while it also accepts a percentage of professionals who have similar interests in the context of lifelong learning.

More information: https://summerschool.ac.uoi.gr/en/

2024 – Year of Lord Byron and Philhellenism

2024 marks the 200th anniversary of the death of the great romantic poet Lord Byron, who offered his life in the struggle for the independence of Greece. The Society for Hellenism and Philhellenism and the Museum of Philhellenism declare 2024 as the “Year of Lord Byron and Philhellenism”, with the aim of highlighting and honoring, through a series of actions, the great British Philhellene and the contributions of philhellenism internationally. They also announced a student competition addressed to schools in Greece and abroad on the theme “2024: 200 years since the death of Lord Byron – the continuous philhellenism”, aiming to highlight the role of the Philhellenic movement to the positive outcome of the Greek Revolution of 1821 and to promote the continuous philhellenism as a cornerstone for the development of civilized humanity.

Entries to the student competition until 7 April 2024: https://www.eefshp.org/paratasi-ston-mathitiko-diagonismo-mechri-tis-7-aprilioy-2024-kai-eleytheri-provoli-tis-tainias-oi-filellines-se-scholeia/ and more information: https://www.eefshp.org/en/