Greece’s Sustainable Tourism Practices Presented at 7th UNWTO Global Summit

Greece’s practices for the sustainable development of its tourism destinations were presented by Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura during the 7th UNWTO Global Summit on Urban Tourism, which is taking place between September 16-19, in Seoul, South Korea.

The summit of the World Tourism Organization includes 900 participants from 50 countries, who are debating their vision for the development of urban tourism by 2030.

During the summit, Kountoura spoke of Greece’s success in achieving a sharp increase in tourism figures during the last four years by designing and implementing a national tourism strategy with a focus on the development of all Greek destinations.

She also referred to the new opportunities and challenges created by tourism and the development of strategies on local, national and global level, through the cooperation of local authorities; national and international organizations; and the private sector.

According to Kountoura, Greece has benefited by investing in innovative practices such as:
– the enrichment of the traditional tourism product with new themes,
– the dynamic development of thematic tourism,
– the development of “satelite” destinations around popular locations,
– the connection of Greece’s main tourism markets with all its destinations via air, sea and road,
– the opening of new tourism markets such as the US, Middle East and Asia, which can support the ministry’s scheme for tourism 365 days a year.

Furthermore, Kountoura referred to the close cooperation between the Ministry and the UNWTO and invited all participants to visit Thessaloniki for the 8th International Meeting on Silk Road Tourism, which is scheduled to take place on October 9-12.