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A report of the public administration supervisory office revealed unreasonable excessive spending by the Greek Tourist Union in the period 2008 – 2009. Procurement without prior contest, fabulous amounts for gifts to unknown persons, luxury business trips covering traveling and accommodation expenses for people not employed by the organization are only part of the documented nuisances the prosecutor should judge. 14 employees of the organization fall under the watchful eye of justice.

The supervisors’ report reveals that expenditure on public relations in the budget of the Greek Tourist Union has risen by more than 30 percent for two years, yet the actual costs significantly exceed the funds provided. Thus, the organization has a debt of over 7 million euros for the coming years. What is the result of such intense public relations and how it has affected tourism in Greece are questions which we are able to answer for ourselves.

The organization’s employees have not wasted time for procurement competitions or tenders but directly chose the partner companies. Sometimes they organized a competition but just for the look of it and ... after the procurement. Thus, prices of services offered by contractors have been continuously rising. According to the statute, if the procurement cost exceeds 50,000 euros the Governing Council of the Union should decide on it but its employees have not gone into so great detail concerning the administrative rules. The big contracts have been awarded only with the signature of the Secretary of the organization.

The financial statements of the Greek Tourist Union include large amounts for purchasing of generous gifts without mentioning neither the names of the recipients, nor why they have deserved this honour. The employees were not good at accounting clearly because the supervisors have found many strange errors in the business trips documentation. Significant amounts for traveling and accommodation were spent, for example, for persons whose names are not mentioned, but who are known not to be members of the Greek Tourist Union. The reason for their business trips is also unknown as well as what kind of work they have done during these trips.  

The report of the public administration supervisory office on the excess spending of the Greek Tourist Union is presented to the prosecution following the order of the Minister of Culture and Tourism Pavlos Geroulanos.