P.M. COMMUNICATIONS: To begin with we would like to talk about contemporary Athens. Athens has changed beyond all recognition over the past few years, partly because of the Olympic Games and is becoming a more important city at the international level. Could you please share with the readers of The Sunday Telegraph the transformation that is taking place?

MR. PANAYOTOPOULOS: The main objective was to turn Athens into the hub between Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In order to achieve that, the priority was the upgrade of the infrastructure, such as the creation of the ring road around the city, the finalization of the metro, the new airport, the Olympic Venues, as well as the idea of moving the ports from the centre down to Lavrio. The second move was to develop the city offer in terms of contemporary art and culture, variety in gastronomy, and so on. The third part was to allow the visitors to have an easy access to areas around Athens, because if someone comes to Athens for a few days, it is a great idea to go and discover locations around the city. We do have islands which can easily accommodate people for 4-5 days, but apart from that, our visitors can also go for day trips, they can go skiing or take small cruises down to the Cyclades, or even take a flight to an island and come back. The idea should be to discover the whole Attica peninsula during a couple of days and then take an extended trip somewhere else. This used to happen many years ago, in the 70's, when the flight would come to Athens and then they would fly somewhere else. However, little by little, the city became bigger and more congested, it got a bad image and the people started avoiding it. Nowadays, the city expansion has been regulated, and Athens is projecting a new image. I think that the steps taken by the new government and the Mayor over the last few years were quite successful, but that is the solid base on which we have to continue working.

P.M. COMMUNICATIONS: The readers of The Telegraph are well educated and very familiar with the ancient sites in Athens. What are the attractions you think should be highlighted, as our readers may not expect to find them in this city?

MR. PANAYOTOPOULOS: We have classical and modern art, interesting performances in ancient theatres, they can go antique hunting in Monastiraki or in Piraeus and it is much cheaper than in London, they can spend a day in a luxurious spa or even go gambling!

P.M. COMMUNICATIONS: Within this modern offering, the first thing you mentioned was modern art and within that, in Athens, Mr. Joannou has quite an interesting position in terms of determining that.

MR. PANAYOTOPOULOS: Mr. Joannou is one of the biggest collectors of modern art in the world and that is his passion. With the hotels, the idea was to try and expand the static appearance of the hotel and extend this art. Intercontinental is a very big hotel and it was not easy to coordinate everything in it. I personally find this hotel colourful, interesting and charming. I like the combination of the Greek style in terms of the blue colour, with the classic art and history, in terms of the view of the Acropolis, and the mixture with the modern art collection and the new modern restaurant on the 10th floor, that creates a contrast.

P.M. COMMUNICATIONS: The hotels belonging to chains around the world have the tendency to be similar. Is it fun for you personally to work in a hotel with a real identity and a role in the cultural scene?

MR. PANAYOTOPOULOS: Of course, otherwise it would be very boring! I am very happy to work in the Athenaeum Intercontinental.

P.M. COMMUNICATIONS: The hotel was completely renovated in 2003…

MR. PANAYOTOPOULOS: There has always been something happening in this hotel. We were always changing something and doing things differently. Now, all the floors have been renovated, and the latest thing that was refurbished was the lobby. We are currently building an extensive convention spaces on the -1 level which should be ready in about 2 weeks. We are also finishing the bar and the spa, and after that, we will start with something new, so it is an ongoing process!

P.M. COMMUNICATIONS: Our readers are certainly looking for a luxurious and comfortable hotel, could you tell them more about the facilities that you offer?

MR. PANAYOTOPOULOS: One of our main facilities is the restaurant on the top floor. It has a very good reputation and it is constantly improving. Then we have the club floor, which is unique in terms of its view on the Acropolis and the services that it offers - there is no other 5-star hotel in Greece offering a similar type of facilities. Another very important thing is that we have the largest and most spacious rooms in Athens, all equipped with wi-fi. In some other hotels our standard rooms would be considered as small suites, because they all have a sitting area. The main restaurant of the hotel, Café Zoe, is on the ground floor and Tony Chee has designed it.

On the business side, approximately 40% of our clients are coming to attend conferences or conventions. We offer them multiple facilities and we can accommodate up to 3.500 delegates at the same time. We are the only hotel that can organize 3 conventions of all levels simultaneously.

P.M. COMMUNICATIONS: You have recently received the World Travel Award Leadership, how are you looking to develop your position of leadership within the hotels of Athens?

MR. PANAYOTOPOULOS: The hotel is very well positioned in the market and it has always been a landmark. Now, our objective is to go further and focus more on becoming one of the leading convention hotels in the South-eastern Mediterranean. In 2005 we have also received an award for the way we develop our staff, which is a very good indication of our constant effort to upgrade the service philosophy.

P.M. COMMUNICATIONS: You have extensive international experience in the hotel industry and you are very familiar with the hotel environment in Athens, which has been very competitive in the post-Olympic period. What is your strategy to ensure the leadership in the coming years?

MR. PANAYOTOPOULOS: We aim to focus specifically on the conference market. This hotel has to be promoted as the main conference hotel in Athens. There are other hotels in the centre of Athens that offer a different product and we have to focus on something different. I believe that by catering to the conference market we can really differentiate ourselves. Within this, the UK market is very important for us, as it represents 20% of our business.

P.M. COMMUNICATIONS: So you feel that Athens has really managed to reinvent itself as a city-break destination yet?

MR. PANAYOTOPOULOS: The majority of tourists staying with us are not Greeks. In any case, on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays we are actually usually near fully-booked, so even if tourists started to come in for the weekend, it wouldn't effect us too much because a lot of the local Greek conferences also extend their stays on the Saturdays. The only way that it could benefit us would be if tourists came from the end of June to the beginning of September, and on public holidays that overlap a weekend in the summer months, but in the summer months it's too hot and people are not actually willing to come and stay 2-3 days in Athens. They prefer to do that in the winter.

P.M. COMMUNICATIONS: We understand that you are the first Greek to be named as the General Manager of this hotel and that you have referred to this appointment as, "the landmark of my career to date." How does it feel for you as a Greek to manage one of the landmark hotel properties in Athens?

MR. PANAYOTOPOULOS: It was really important when I managed the Intercontinental in Paris. However, the Athenaeum InterContinental is personally more challenging for me, because it was the first hotel that I started in back in 1986! This hotel has become more of a passion of mine than the other places where I have worked. In other hotels, the job was nice and I really liked the luxury surrounding it, but it didn't have the same sentimental attachment for me as the city where I started my career.

P.M. COMMUNICATIONS: So you identify a lot more with this hotel than any other you have worked in.

MR. PANAYOTOPOULOS: Yes and no. With every job you try to adapt as much as possible to the local market and its surroundings. In fact, one of the biggest mistakes that a General Manager can make is not to adapt to the local market. The fact that I was Greek and I had already worked with two other companies in Greece, made it easier for me to adapt to the working of this new hotel and I found it quite easy at the start. When a foreigner comes to Greece, many problems stem from his not knowing who are the correct business partners and who are not. Personally, I can avoid all of these problems. Being Greek, I have that know-how and could easily provide this information by saying that he's bad, he's good and so on. That' s just the way it is.

P.M. COMMUNICATIONS: Are there any particular challenges that you face working in the Greek market as opposed to the other markets that you worked in?

MR. PANAYOTOPOULOS: When I initially came back to Greece, it was a big shock. After spending 17 years abroad, In the same way that you have stereotypes of the French, or the British, you also have them for the Greeks.

Greeks are very sentimental and proud, and they will never admit to making a mistake. Therefore, you have to find a way to motivate them whilst respecting the mentality and character. If you shout at a Greek when telling him off, he will not react well at all, because he is proud. You have to use the right language to approach him in order to have the response you want.

In my opinion, the main thing about any business policy is to see what the problem is and make sure that it is not repeat again. It is not a question of who is wrong or right, but how to correct the mistake. Of course, if the same person is wrong five times in a row, then there is a problem, but if for just once, then you must amend the situation and continue.

P.M. COMMUNICATIONS: I would like to give you the opportunity to send a last message to the readers of The Telegraph.

MR. PANAYOTOPOULOS: In Athens, you can appreciate the sea and the mountains, and it is really very pleasant to leave a nice and comfortable hotel, and go discover this charming city. I would urge all your readers to come and visit us! They may have been here before, but they must come back and see the new Athens. That will allow them to judge by themselves if it was worth coming back or not.