There has been no reduction in bookings for the winter and next summer at Greek destinations from tour and cruise operators, according to the president of the World Travel and Tourism Council, Jean Claude Baumgarten. He came to Greece on his own initiative and met with Tourism Development Minister Fani Palli-Petralia, conveying the feeling that the international tourism industry has seen greater catastrophes than the Greek wildfires. He added that Greece will reap the benefits of its promotional efforts in the future with its tourism growth. He mentioned data by the WTTC research council in Oxford which predicts a 4 to 5 percent average annual rise in Greek tourism. Palli-Petralia forecast that the total number of tourists to come to Greece throughout 2007 will exceed 17 million.

Aegean Airlines said yesterday it had placed an order for an additional six A320 aircraft with Airbus, bringing its fleet total to 25. Aegean took delivery of the first three jets earlier in the year and expects 10 more to be delivered next year. The airline said the full renewal of its fleet will be completed by 2010. The order for the 25 jets from Airbus exceeds 1.1 billion euros based on the manufacturer's price list, Aegean said. The new aircraft will allow the carrier to expand its international routes and benefit from lower operating costs per seat. After all jets are delivered, Aegean says its fleet will be the youngest in Southeast Europe. The A320 jets will be powered by International Aero V2500 engines and will gradually replace 15 Boeing 737-300 aircraft. The carrier went public in late June, raising 136 million euros in its initial public offering. (Reuters)

Romania plans to select investors who will participate in the construction of two nuclear reactors at its Cernavoda power plant by the end of 2007, a government official said yesterday. Bucharest has set an October 25 deadline to receive binding bids for the license to build the units, estimated to cost a total of 2.2 billion euros. The reactors are expected to go on stream in 2014 and 2015 respectively. (Reuters)

The Cypriot government appointed yesterday Panagiotis Kallis as chairman of the island's competition commission. Kallis, a former judge on the island's Supreme Court, succeeds George Christofides who resigned on Wednesday. (Reuters)

Romania's largest petrol firm Petrom, which is 51 percent owned by OMV, will participate in a tender to explore for oil in two Turkish Black Sea deep water sites, a company official said yesterday. Turkish petroleum firm TPAO told Reuters on Wednesday it plans to farm out two large off-shore sites in the Black Sea. Petrom is also auctioning exploration rights at two of its off-shore fields in the Black Sea. (Reuters)