Opening ceremony with optimism and excitement

In the presence of important representatives of political scene and the business world as well as leading institutional bodies from the Hotel and Catering Sector, the official opening ceremony of HORECA 2023 took place.

The opening of the HORECA exhibition was held on Friday, February 10, at 11:00 in the conference room C2 of the Metropolitan Expo, greeted by the Minister of Development & Investments, Adonis Georgiadis.

Also, present at the grand opening was Mr. Peter Ottmann, CEO of the NürnbergMesse Group, of which FORUM S.A. is a member, who stated during his speech that “the essence of HORECA is its people themselves, their ideas, dreams, contribution, dedication and above all their confidence in sharing these values. In this way, a strong industry is formed of exhibiting companies in Greece that shape the future of HORECA. He referred to last year’s event and emphasized that the exhibition was the 1st to be held in 2022, strictly observing the protection measures. Afterwards, he expressed his condolences to the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and stated that FORUM SA, in response to the great humanitarian crisis caused by the earthquake in the neighboring country, is donating 1 euro for every square meter sold at the HORECA exhibition, with the donation reaching the amount of 26 thousand euros”.

Mr. Onur Katmerci, DCM at the Turkish Embassy in Athens thanked the Greek government and FORUM SA for their support and practical assistance to Turkey.

Mr. Vasilis Kikilias, Minister of Tourism noted that he is always next to the HORECA exhibition and wished great success to the exhibition.

The President of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, Mr. Alexandros Vassilikos, wished every success to the HORECA exhibition and stated that the “Greek hospitality proves to be a strong development card even amidst the global challenges we are experiencing today, just walk among the 500 exhibitors in the halls of HORECA and see how many sectors Greek hospitality helps through its development”.

Ms. Angela Gerekou, President of Greek National Tourism Organization (EOT), noted that “the cooperation, coordination and consistency between all official bodies gave us the result we had this year in tourism”. She also referred to sustainable tourism and noted that Greece can become the world center of well-being and euphoria and sustainable cultural tourism.

While George Kavvathas, President of GSEVEE (Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen, and Merchants), emphasized during his greeting that “we have been participating in HORECA since 2006, the largest exhibition event in the country and this is the result of years of cooperation with all sectors of tourism and catering”.

Afterwards, Mr. Yannos Benopoulos, President of the Hellenic Coffee Union stated that “the economic strength of the HO.RE.CA sector also affects the financial strength of coffee processing and marketing businesses. We want to believe that this year the exhibition will set a record for visitors and will be the harbinger of the development of the coffee industry in 2023.”

The Head of Tourism of the SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance and member of the Greek Parliament Mrs Katerina Notopoulou, noted during her speech that “HORECA proves once again the dynamics it has, as it is a very important event which is confirmed by the multitude of exhibitors and the large number of visitors”.

“Last year we opened the exhibition for the first time after the pandemic and we were somewhat hesitant. In the end, we did very well,” said the Minister of Development and Investments, Adonis Georgiadis, while estimating that HORECA this year we will do even better. He even added that “this year we will have the most participation of all time. This year, the most agreements and the most contracts of all time will be closed, the minister said, adding that the government stood by the exhibitions in difficult times”.

It is noted that all the speakers expressed their support to the Turkish people who suffer after the earthquake.

All the representatives of the institutional bodies of the sector attended the grand opening

Also present at the exhibition’s grand opening were Ms. Mary Kontaridis, ESYD Communications Officer, Mr. Christos Kourtalis, ESYD CEO, Mr. Nikos Papathanasis, Deputy Minister of Development and Investments, Mr. Sotiris Anagnostopoulos, Secretary General of Trade & Consumer Protection, Ms. Niki Constantinou, President of the Panhellenic Association of Catering & Entertainment Stores & Consumers, Mr. Mahammed Sbihi, Ambassador of Morocco, Mr. Hamid Tatcı, Commercial Counselor at the Turkish Embassy in Athens, Mr. Ioannis Manos, Secretary General of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Ilias Tsirbas, Board Member. Chamber of Commerce of Athens, Mr. Tassos Zisopoulos Vice President Chef’s Club, Mrs. Elsa Nika, member of the Chef’s Club Steering Committee, Ms. Fotini Patrikiou, Communication & Marketing Manager Worldline Greece, Mr. Ioannis Kitixis, CEO Worldline Greece, Mr. Vasilis Doumas, Product Portfolio & Innovation Manager Worldline Greece, Mr. Konstantinos Alexiou, Commercial Director Worldline Greece, Ms. Elena Diamanti, Communication & Marketing Director Worldline Greece, Mr. Alexandros Papageorgiou, Product Portfolio Director of Worldline Greece, Mr. Fanis Spanos, Regional Governor of Central Greece, Mr. Alexandros Angelopoulos, Vice President of Aldemar Hotels & Spa, Mr. Thodoris Vokos, CEO & President Posidonia SA, Mr. Alexis Lagoudakis, Managing Director ROTA SA, Mr. Panos Moraitis, President of the Panhellenic Association of Catering Equipment Companies.

The opening event was coordinated by journalist Maria Nikoltsiou. At the end of the ceremony, everyone was at the entrance to observe the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon.