Argophilia

Αργοφιλία: For the love of the journey.

Crete Daydreams – The Village of Loutro

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Crete holds so many secrets safe-and-sound still. Our journeys here began in 2014 on an extended vacation visit. And as a friend who’s a Cretan once told me, “During my lifetime here I’ve searched something new each week, and I’ve still not discovered it all.” After having lived here some months I am convinced too, that […]

The Reality of Hotel Website Conversion from FASTBOOKING

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A new report out from FASTBOOKING reveals that the average hotel website conversion rate is only 2.2 %. The same report also tells us that the top 20 % of hotels convert at a rate of 5.6 %, while the bottom fifth only convert at a pitiful 0.3%. Clearly, the spread in between leaves a gulf of disparity. For hoteliers wanting to get a grip on how to bring their properties into optimization, this FASTBOOKING paper offers help.  

A Top Ten of Crete Stays from TripAdvisor

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With hundreds of choices as to where to stay on Crete, one of the best ways to choose is to read and compare reviews before booking. Given the swath of worldwide hotels reviewed by TripAdvisor, we thought we’d save readers and potential travelers a bit of time sorting things out for themselves.

Sheraton’s Tirana Pullout Another Nail in Albania Tourism Coffin

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News of another nail in the coffin of Albania tourism tells of Marriott International, owner of the Sheraton hotel brand no longer managing the Sheraton Tirana property as of December 31, 2017. One of the countries Argophilia pointed to as having the most potential for tourism growth, continues to be bogged down in corruption and bad business. 

Greek Spa & Medical Tourism Set to Take Off

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News from the Hellenic Association of Municipalities with Thermal Springs promises an upswing in Greece spa and wellness tourism once regulatory goals are met. According to Markos Danas, General Secretary of the organization, the ironing out of technical specifications, distribution and setting out protected zones are the prerequisites for the development of thermal springs and spa tourism in Greece. This opens up the ultimate potential for a vast opportunity to create a medical tourism industry that could well supercharge Greece’s main economic engine.

German Fund Snaps Up Greece’s Thessaloniki Port

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News of the privatization of the Thessaloniki Port arrived late last week via Greece’s liquidation fund. According to the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund the sale of its 67% stake in Thessaloniki Port to Deutche Invest Equity Partners, Belterra Investments and CMA CGM’s ports division, Terminal Link has now taken place.

Peskesi Restaurant Could Be Crete’s Best?

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Don’t you just hate it when friends recommend a restaurant and the food and/or service turns out to be horrible? How about the feeling when those recommendations turn out to be spot on, how does that work for you? Well, a Facebook recommendations test we did the other day sent us to Peskesi Restaurant, which nearly […]

Desertification: The Very Real Threat to Cyprus and Crete

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Not all news from paradise is positive these days as unsustainable practices and the global warming trend threatens to turn Cyprus and other southern European islands into true desert islands. New concerns over Cyprus’ very limited water resources come from Cyprus’s Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment, which has set up a national […]

In Search of Original Greece: Folegandros Island

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Travel experts claim Folegandros is the last bastion of what the true Greece looked like decades ago. The 32 sq. km. island near Santorini is home to about 650 permanent residents, and it’s a spot the big cruise ships just pass on by on the way to more highly publicized Greek isles. possibly the last untouched […]

FastBooking Report Reveals Recipe for Direct Distribution

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A new report and a revealing graphic from FastBooking reminds us that hotelier uptake for using more and more advanced tools and strategies needs to be incremental. The report entitled “A guide for independent hotels: budget hotels, small luxury hotels, and hotel groups” shows how CRM and other energies need to work hand-in-hand with websites, social, SEO and SEM, email marketing, metasearch and other facets to spur direct bookings.

Perfect Crete, Perfect Saganaki, and a 626 All Day Hamburger Surprise

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Last week we dined at a number of wonderful restaurants here on Crete, our first breakfast experience after arriving was a sampling of the morning fare at 626 All Day Lounge & City Garden convinced us the chef there truly knows his business.