BEIJING, Dec. 13 -- Greek authorities were all apologies when a group of 41 tourists returned to Shanghai on Sunday after a trip to Greece. The tourists were detained at customs for 25 hours when they tried to get into Athens two weeks ago.

    Greece blames the detention on computer problems, but the tourists seem more upset with their travel agency than the Greeks.

    "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 3pm on November 28, and were held at the airport until 4pm 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 by Liu Xiaode, one of the travelers. "Now it's the travel agency that really upsets us."

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

    "The tour leader did not collect our visas," said Liu. " 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 should also know who organized the tour and where the tourists will be staying in Greece, according to Anninos.

    "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 add Mandarin speaking employees to its airports.

    The number of Shanghai locals visiting Greece is currently growing by about 10 percent a month. Enditem

    (Source: Shanghai Daily)