The 15th Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venearology (EADV), from 4-8 October 2006, is the largest congress ever held in Rhodes but also one of the largest held in Greece. This fact was underlined by the Minister of Health of Greece Mr. Dimitrios Avramopoulos, who welcomed the 12.000 attendees during the opening ceremony of the congress at the Ancient Stadium of Rhodes. Within the proceedings of the Congress but also around the extensive exhibition all hosted in Rodos Palace and neighboring hotels, several new methods for the diagnostics and treatment of dermatological diseases were presented, opening up new horizons for the specialties of Dermatology and Venearology worldwide. The President of the Congress and newly elected future president of the Academy, Professor Andreas Katsambas expressed his pride for the absolute success of the congress stating that “the Greek Hospitality excelled in the scientific community world-wide” and his gratitude to the local authorities, the conference venues and off-course the Professional Congress Organiser Erasmus S.A for carrying out a perfect organization.

Successful was also the outcome of the 6th Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Meeting on Industry (Εuro-Med 2006), a top political meeting of 37 Ministers and Delegations from all the state-members of the European Union and Mediterranean Countries held in Rodos Palace from the 20th until the 22nd September 2006. The Vice President of the European Commission Mr. Gunter Ferheugen also attended the proceedings of the 6th Euro –Med. The Greek Minister of Development Mr. Dimitrios Sioufas had the idea of hosting this event in Rhodes and was supported by the President of the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Commerce and Industry Mr. Mauri Pekarinen. The meeting added a new dynamic perspective to the cooperation of the EU and Mediterranean countries on the industry sector. The 37 Ministers and their Delegations praised the Greek Minister for the initiative to organize the meeting in Rhodes, while Mr Ferheugen described the island as the crossroad of the Mediterranean region.

This was indeed the season of the medical congresses for Rodos Palace, since the venue hosted the 44th Panhellenic Pediatric Congress (11th-14th June 2006), which was attended by 2000 doctors and included a large exhibition of well-known pharmaceutical and nutritional products , while at the end of September (27-30 September 2006) another 1000 delegates were present at the 15th Panhellenic Urology Congress.

In the field of exact sciences, the most important meetings were the 5th Computational Stochastic Mechanics Conference of 300 delegates from all over the world and the 12th Mediterranean Conference on Phytopathology which was attended by 300 people also.

The dialogue between nations and civilizations was promoted by two meetings; the Annual Conference of the International Center of Studies of the Black Sea having as honorary speaker the Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Yiannis Valinakis and the International Symposium titled “The necessity of dialogue between civilisations” organised by the International Writers’ and Translators’ Centre of Rhodes held between 21st and 22nd July 2006, having as delegates reputable writers and translators from 30 countries.

The market of corporate meetings & incentives produced also favourable results with leading multinational companies such as CISCO, INTEL, NOKIA, REMAX holding events of different sizes and concepts in Rodos Palace. The most prominent incentive trips were those of the Italian Bank Banco Popolare Di Verona E Navara (25-28 Μay 2006), with the participation 700 executives and the Wella Show with 900 participants held from 7th -10th May 2006. Another unique event hosted by Rodos Palace was the CAT Night (Conference and Travel Publications) which took place under the impressive glass dome of the indoor pool on October 30th, during the 45th ICCA Congress & Exhibition held in Rhodes.

This successful conference season ended with the 2nd International Rhodes Tourism Forum, titled “Competitiveness through Sustainability” ,the most important event of the Dodecanese Tourism Industry, held between 10-11th November 2006. The Forum was organised by the Dodecanese Chamber of Commerce, under the auspices of the United Nations Environmental Programme and was hosted in Rodos Palace and sponsored by the venue’s owner company.

With the spectacular rise of the conference market in 2006, Rhodes regained its position as one of the most privileged and competitive conference destinations in the Mediterranean regions, while Rodos Palace with a 30 years experience in the conference business and continuous investments to the redesign of its facilities and enrichment of its services proved its reputation as the leader of the sector. The outcome of the 1st year of the investment plan are the New Luxury Garden & Private Pool Suites, which have already started their operation and clearly present the unique benefit of enjoying privacy, luxury and style within a complete conference venue.

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