Tziallas: Tourism Paving Way for Investment in Greece

Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development George Tziallas. Photo Source: @The Economist Events for Greece, Malta, Cyprus and southeast Europe.

The dynamic growth of tourism is stimulating investment activity in Greece, which will further strengthen the sector as well as create jobs and new opportunities for local communities, said Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development George Tziallas during the Economist’s “22nd Roundtable with the Government of Greece”, held in Athens last week. 

Tourists at the Acropolis, Athens. © GTP

“Tourism is a very dynamic field that can create direct and immediate development and investment opportunities in Greece, in the coming years,” he said.

Tziallas focused on the immediate potential of tourism, highlighting the ministry’s two-year strategy, as well as priorities and actions which include ensuring sustainable tourism development that focuses on integrating environmental and social awareness in practice.

Tziallas went on to present the tangible results of the ministry’s three-year national tourism strategy which includes double-digit growth in the first four months of 2018.

He also said the ministry wants to support entrepreneurship with the aim of directly increasing the availability of beds and improving quality. In the last three years, he said, capacity has increased by 25,000 new beds in high categories.

Besides the ministry’s ongoing promotion of year-round tourism, Tziallas also said they were working on plans for specialized tourism studies and training in special interest and thematic tourism, adding that small and medium-sized tourism enterprises had a chance at growth thanks to NSRF programs.

On a final note, Tziallas referred to a draft law covering thematic and special interest tourism based on the guidelines of the  World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), which is now open for public consultation on the ministry’s website through to June 27.