US Journalists to Spread the Word about Rhodes and Kos

The group of US journalists at the start of their fam trip in Greece.

The tourism department of the Region of the South Aegean is hosting a press trip for American journalists on the islands of Rhodes and Kos.

Partnering with the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) office in New York, the region has invited a group of journalists from key media outlets in America to experience the unique beauty of the islands and the authentic Greek hospitality.

The invited American journalists represent high-circulation print media and popular websites and blogs with a wide appeal to the US audience.

The press trip follows the recent appearance of South Aegean Region Prefect George Hadjimarkos on Richard Quest’s show on CNN during his recent US tour. During the show, Mr. Hadjimarkos said that that what one is looking for in a vacation, can be found in the South Aegean islands, the safest place in the world. “AEGEAN Islands, this is the place to be!”, he had said enthusiastically and invited millions of CNN viewers to visit for a holiday.

Rhodes

“The American tourism market presents a great potential, one which we have not yet attracted to the desired extent… We are holding this press trip to showcase the uniqueness of our islands”, Marietta Papavasileiou, Vice Governor of Tourism for the Region of South Aegean, said in an announcement.

The press trip is also part of the GNTO’s tourism strategy to highlight the value of the Greek tourism product.

“At the GNTO we form and implement a targeted action program that includes special familiarization trips for leading tour operators from all over the world and press trips for journalists of foreign media that are influential in shaping tourism trends”, the organization’s secretary general, Dimitris Tryfonopoulos said.

Kos

Since the beginning of 2016, the GNTO has organized 70 familiarization trips under a total budget of some 160,000 euros in cooperation with regions and municipalities.

Especially in the South Aegean Region, the GNTO has held an extra 11 special fam trips for tour operators and bloggers under a budget of some 50,000 euros.

According to the Region of the South Aegean, US arrivals to Greece are showing a 28 percent increase this year.