Tziallas: Ministry Focused on Sustainable Tourism, Fair Distribution of Tourist Flows

Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development Giorgos Tziallas.

Ensuring sustainable tourism development and stronger performance in the coming years is a priority for the government, said Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development George Tziallas speaking at the Economist conference held in the coastal town of Loutraki over the weekend.

Addressing delegates at the at the Wyndham Loutraki Poseidon Resort, which hosted the “Governance and Regional Arteries for Growth: Europe’s Momentum – Greece’s Impetus” event, Tziallas said the tourism ministry was working to promote sustainable development by focusing primarily on integrating environmental and social awareness in practice. This, he said, will lead to “the development of a tourism industry identified by a code of conduct that prioritizes respect for the environment but also for local qualities and cultural elements, so that tourist flows are distributed evenly to all parts of the country, 365 days a year”.

Tziallas went on to add that Greece can develop theme tourism in this direction while the ministry is aiming to lay down the foundations for a functional legal framework that will pave the way for investments in the area.

Particularly important for Tziallas is the ministry’s effort to involve all stakeholders from both private and public spheres while ensuring the sector can benefit from as many EU funding programs as possible for the creation of diving parks as well as other special interest tourism products including health and wellness, medical, and agrotourism, among others.

“Tourism will continue to support growth. The government and the ministry will continue to work towards achieving goals of sustainable, balanced and fair tourism development,” he said.