Santorini Mayor Calls for Self-Management Tourism Scheme, Making Island Year-round Hotspot

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Aware of Santorini’s robust brand name internationally, the Cycladic island’s mayor highlighted the need for local administration to take over the management of the destination ahead of the “Santorini: Year-round Destination” event to be presented at the Acropolis Museum on December 1.

Thera Mayor Anastasios-Nikolaos Zorzos.

“This is our strategic vision. We’re talking about a new tourism development blueprint and a model of tourism governance where all stakeholders have a specific role to perform, with clear rules from the beginning that will be consistent with our vision,” Thera (Santorini) Mayor Nikolaos Zorzos explained ahead of the event while speaking at SETE’s recent tourism conference.

The island’s mayor went on to add that tourism professionals across the board have joined forces in order to launch a 12-month operational program in 2016, which will form the basis for 2017.

“Santorini has all those features — culture, geology, architecture, gastronomy — that guarantee to attract visitors throughout the year… including direct daily flights from Athens in winter and daily ferry services from Piraeus,” he added.

“2015 has been an excellent year for Santorini… this however does not mean we can rest on our laurels… we want Santorini to remain a leading world tourist destination over time, but with conditions of sustainable development, sustainability and self-management,” Mr Zorzos explained.

The mayor called on the state to provide the means and resources for the design of a sustainable development model, and concluded that cooperation on a united front, including all players, both public an private, is vital for there to be any serious longterm growth.