Greek authorities have apologized for an incident where a group of 41 Chinese tourists from Shanghai were detained at customs for 25 hours when they tried to enter Athens two weeks ago.

Greece blames the inappropriate detention on computer problems, but the tourists seemed more upset with their travel agency than with Greek authorities.

"It is a huge misunderstanding," said Demetris Anninos, the Greek consul general in Shanghai. "We had a computer malfunction at customs and the time difference between Shanghai and Athens worsened the problem."

The group arrived in Athens at 3 PM on November 28 and was detained at the airport until 4 PM the next day. Anninos said a Greek official was sent to the airport to solve the problem. However, as the ministry of tourism in Athens was closed at the time, both the tourists and the Greek authorities had to wait.

On the night of November 29, the tourists were treated to dinner by the Greece Tourism Organization. They also received a sincere apology from the president of the organization.

"We did get apologies both in Athens and in Shanghai from the Greek authorities," confirmed Liu Xiaode, one of the travelers. "Now it's the travel agency that really upsets us."

The group tour was organized by Shanghai Yangtze International Travel. According to Liu, the group was passing through Greek customs at four different windows when problems first arose.

"The tour leader did not collect our visas," Liu said. "He also failed to offer the name of our hotel in Athens to the customs officers."

Tour leaders are supposed to collect visas from every member of their tour group so that they can all pass customs at the same time. They are also expected to be able to furnish details of the tour organizer and accommodation, Anninos said.

"We can guarantee such an incident will never happen again," he said. "We will continue to promote the tourism market between China and Greece."

Anninos said Greece is also looking to employ Mandarin-speaking staff at its airports.

The number of Shanghai visitors to Greece is growing by about 10 percent a month.

(Shanghai Daily December 13, 2005)