On Wednesday, September 3, 2025, the General Assembly of RIT was held in the conference hall of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels. The meeting was opened by the President of RIT, Ms. Konstantina Svynou, who presented the Institute’s activities for 2024, highlighting the surveys and studies conducted as well as the other initiatives in which the Institute participated. Subsequently, the General Director of RIT, Professor George Petrakos, presented the three pillars of RIT’s scientific advancement. Concluding the session, the Vice President, Ms. Christina Tetradi, delivered the Institute’s financial report.
The General Director of the Research Institute for Tourism (RIT), Professor George Petrakos, participated as an invited speaker in the 1st Conference on Tourism Law, organized by the Heraklion Bar Association and its President, Mr. Nikos Logothetis. The event took place on June 20–21, 2025, in Heraklion, Crete, at the Aquila Atlantis Hotel.
During the second session – a roundtable discussion titled “Organizational Challenges in Modern Tourism”, Prof. Petrakos contributed to the dialogue on the economic and social significance of tourism, as well as the current challenges facing both international and domestic tourism. He joined other distinguished experts from the tourism sector and public administration in this important exchange of views.
Among other topics, the RIT General Director presented data highlighting the contribution of hotels to the Greek economy, addressed the environmental dimension of hotel sustainability, and discussed the challenges posed by the rise of Artificial Intelligence in both education and the modern tourism landscape.
The roundtable was moderated by Prof. Lia Athanasiou, a distinguished academic from the Law School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. In addition to Prof. Petrakos, participants included Mr. Aris Ikkos, Scientific Director of INSETE, Mr. Kyriakos Kotsoglou, Deputy Regional Governor for Tourism in Crete, and Ms. Eleni Mitraki, Head of the Directorate for Tourism Promotion at the Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO).
The conference concluded with great success and strong attendance, marking a significant step forward in the legal and academic dialogue on key issues affecting the tourism sector in Greece
The General Director of the Research Institute for Tourism (RIT), Professor George Petrakos, addressed the Subcommittee on Mountainous Areas of the Special Permanent Committee on Regional Affairs of the Hellenic Parliament, presenting views on the progress of reconstruction efforts in Northern Evia.
The vital contribution of the hospitality sector to achieving the critical goal of sustainability was the central theme of the highly successful conference held on Tuesday, May 27th, in Rhodes. The event was co-organized by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels and the Region of South Aegean.
The conference, entitled “Paving the Way Towards a Sustainable Future”, was the second in a series of events held under the initiative “Hospitality with Value for All”, celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels.
At the opening session, Dr. Georgios Petrakos, Professor of Quantitative Methods & IT at Panteion University and General Director of the Institute for Tourism Research and Forecasts (ITEP), presented a study conducted by ITEP entitled “ESG – Sustainability in the Hotel Sector”. The study highlights the sector’s performance in terms of sustainability, with a specific focus on environmental protection, social responsibility, and modern corporate governance.
