Hello! Today we had our last company visit of the trip at G.A.P Vassilopoulos Group. G.A.P is an interesting company because they have a very integrated supply chain. Initially, the group began their practice in shipping, however, over time the group expanded into insurance, courier services, airline, and hospitality services (just to name a few of their prominent logistical focuses!). I was surprised that just one company had the capabilities to provide all these different services, and we learned that G.A.P achieves this integrated supply chain by making strategic alliances and joint ventures with other companies. For example, G.A.P has alliances in the Paphos and Larnaca airport here in Cyprus with Swissport, to ensure logistics in both of these airports are running smoothly. The most recognizable and demanding company that G.A.P partners with is UPS. Additionally, G.A.P has stakes in the Limassol Port, which we visited a few days earlier. They partner with other companies that we visited on this trip at the port, such as DP World. It was interesting to hear about G.A.P’s extensive and impressive supply chain!

Additionally, our speaker today at G.A.P Vassilopoulos Group, Dr. Vassilopoulos, had a lot of good advice regarding business and adapting to our changing world. He quoted the famous Greek philosopher, Heraclitus: “The only constant thing in life is change.” This quote really stuck in my mind, since it is so true in the world today. With new inventions like AI and automation, it is important to explore the possibilities of these new innovations while still sticking to a humanistic-centered business model and proper ethics. I think the biggest thing I learned from Dr. Vassilopoulos is to not be afraid of change, but to embrace it and make change work for you and your goals. Dr. Vassilopoulos spoke a lot about how the company took many risks by growing and expanding into new areas, since they only originally began business in shipping logistics. However, this change has been successful for the G.A.P Group overtime, allowing them to succeed and stand out against competitors. In my professional life, I hope to take on this mindset of embracing change and taking strategic risks!