National Tourism Council Meeting

At the National Tourism Council meeting held last month, Tourism Minister Fani Palli-Petralia stated that the guiding principle for the  ministry’s new leadership is “to develop and promote long-term tourism policy and a unified strategy” to improve the quality and range of tourism products offered and increase demand.

Ms Palli-Petralia outlined the ministry’s immediate action items as passing the bill on spa tourism, agro-tourism, and athletic tourism, and the presidential decree regarding highways, and codifying tourism legislation. Regarding the bill on spa tourism, the minister said that it is now in its final phase.

Procedures for the turning over four of the five Olympic facilities for utilization by government-funded or private organizations are expected to be complete by the end of the summer, she added.

Ms Palli-Petralia announced that a consortium made up of MRB Hellas, PRC Group and a Spanish firm will take on the strategic marketing and advertising for Greek tourism. The marketing strategy will be designed to meet the targeting needs for different countries and populations.

Tourism industry professionals attending the meeting brought up city and land-use planning issues, tourism real estate, and the lack of statistics on tourism (a subject the minister promised to make an announcement on a later date).

A marine tourism representative said that the departure of the cruise ship industry from Pireaus over the last ten years resulted in the loss of over than 180,000 overnight stays in the Attica area.