Tourism Awards 2017: Meet the Judges!

Tourism Awards 2017: Celebrating the best of Greece

The experts that will form the judging committee for the Tourism Awards 2017 were recently revealed by the event’s organizers Boussias Communications and Hotel & Restaurant magazine.

In its fourth year, the Tourism Awards are the first and the biggest prizes of the Greek tourism industry. The Tourism Awards reward leading practices and the most innovative initiatives launched by Greek tourism enterprises and institutions.

The Tourism Awards 2017 will take place this March.

The judging committee will evaluate companies, projects and practices that are known throughout the industry for their excellence, innovation, quality, return on investment and strategic importance.

Meet the judges!

The chairman of the judging committee is Greek travel journalist Maya Tsoclis. The distinguished panel of judges that will view the entries, under Tsocli’s chairmanship, are the following:

• Christina Poutetsi – Journalist
• Cryssa Kakiori – Food & Travel Editor, Real News
• Maria Maraka – Architect – Former GNTO Development Director
• Yiorgos Pittas – Hellenic Chamber of Hotels – Member of the Board of Directors, Founder of online Greek Gastronomy Guide
• Yiannis Tseklenis – Designer
• Kostas Vogiatzis – Founder, Yatzer.com
• Grigoris Tasios – President of the Halkidiki Tourism Organization
• Lefteris Lazarou – Chef
• Konstantinos Lazarakis – Master of Wine – Wine Consultant
• Τheodore S. Benetatos – Head of Graduate Programs for Hotel & Tourism Management, Switzerland IMI University Centre
• Dr Dimitrios Diamantis – ΜΒΑ Programme Manager, Les Roches International School of Hotel Management, Switzerland
• Dr Marianna Sigala – Professor of Tourism – Director of the Centre for Tourism & Leisure Management University of South Australia
• Emmanouil Kiriakidis– Executive Chef Sheraton Dammam Hotel and Convention Centre – Starwood Hotels & Resorts
• Virginia Karaouza – Food & Beverage Manager at Marriott international , Service Excellence – Guest Experience Consultant
• Dimitris Filippidis – Architect, Professor emeritus of the National Technical University of Athens
• Maria Lekakou – Associate Professor, Marine & Business Services Department, University of the Aegean
• Konstantinos Stefanakidis – ‎Directorate of Education in Ministry of Tourism, School of Anavyssos
• Michel Massadakis – Managing Director Självbildarna – Fοunder Doberman digital agency
• Dora Pavlidou – Journalist, Social Media Consultant
• Michalis Moraitis – ‎CIO at Nic. J. Theocarakis SA & Member of the Board of Directors at European CIO Association – ‎European CIO Association
• Dr Ioannis Pappas –  ‎Global Sustainable Tourism Council – Member of the Board of Directors, CEO & Co-Founder of Green Evolution
• Natassa Antonopoulou – Natassa Antonopoulou, Green Key National Coordinator

Do you have something to share? Submit your nomination!

Under the slogan “Do you have something to share?”, organizers are inviting all enterprises and organizations that contribute to the upgrade of the Greek tourism product, to submit nominations for the Tourism Awards 2017.

The Tourism Awards 2017 are including the new categories of “Guest Experience” and “Tourist Attractions” and subcategories have been added to all 12 standard award categories such as: Major Tourism Event, Personalized & Tailor-Made Experiences, VIP & Luxury Services, Digital Destination Guides and Storytelling Excellence.

The entry deadline for the Tourism Awards 2017 in Greece has been extended to Friday, February 3.

To see the entry guidelines, press here. To submit your entry, press here.

Last year’s ceremony attracted some 700 attendees at Athens’ Megaron Concert Hall.

The Greek Travel Pages (GTP) is a media sponsor of the event.