The Rodos Palace Hotel boasts a 5,000-seat conference center

Casino Rodos offers guests a unique, personalized service

NE of the largest islands in the Aegean Sea, Rhodes is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Greece, and is fast establishing itself as a center for business and commercial tourism.

An island of great natural beauty with a famously sunny climate, Rhodes caters to all types of tourist activity. Luxury hotels offer everything from casinos to state-of-the-art conference facilities.

George Giannopoulos is the Mayor of the City of Rhodes, the largest city in the Aegean, with a population of 70,000, and once home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Colossus of Rhodes. He explains how the island targets both business and leisure travelers.“In the beginning, what we were selling was sea and sun. Then we added a vivid nightlife. What was missing, however, was promotion of the other components of tourist development, which were already here.”

The city authorities noted the flourishing market for business congresses and conventions in Europe and the United States. “We thought that we were eligible for that type of tourism and we decided that we had to help the private sector develop the product. Right now we possess some of the biggest, most modern and better designed congress halls in the Balkans, and, I dare say, in Europe.”

Today Rhodes can accommodate up to 20,000 congress guests in a combination of hotels, which include deluxe institutions such as the Grande Albergo della Rose Hotel, Casino Rodos, and the Hotel Rodos Palace.

The island has an archaeological museum and a modern art museum. The municipality plans to enlarge the golf course from 18 to 27 holes, and to build a marina able to accomodate up to 500 vessels, for which it has been seeking an international partner.

GEORGES GIANNOPOULOS Mayor of Rhodes	ENRICO N. B. AIDAN Chairman and Managing Director of Casino Rodos INTERVIEW	ANDONIS V. CAMBOURAKIS Owner of the Hotel Rodos Palace

The elegant Grande Albergo della Rose Hotel dates back to 1927, and while it’s most recent refurbishment was in 1999, it retains the splendour of an earlier age.

Enrico N. B. Aidan (INTERVIEW), Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of Casino Rodos, says his hotel aims to provide clients with an experience rarely found in any part of the world today. This includes providing a 24-hour personal butler service for each of the hotel’s 33 suites.

Rhodes Island is carving itself a niche in the business tourism market

“The idea is to attract top international people and to offer them an unbelievable experience,” Mr. Aidan explains.“Our rooms upstairs are fabulous, and the attention to detail is extreme.”

The Rodos Palace Hotel boasts nearly 800 guest rooms and a 5,000-seat conference center. Andonis Cambourakis, the hotel’s owner, says, “We would very much like to see people flying long haul to come and visit Rhodes, even for three days. We look forward to our visitors returning here. Our leitmotiv is: come again.”

Mayor Giannopoulos wants to attract more visitors to Rhodes from the United States. He says, “We have to find alternative ways and packages which would be attractive to the Americans. If they have not been to Rhodes they do not know what they are missing.”