Greece Kicks Off ITB Berlin 2019 with ‘Greek Breakfast’

Greece kicked off this year’s ITB Berlin tourism exhibition on Wednesday with a presentation of the award-winning ‘Greek Breakfast’ initiative of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels.

Taking place in the center of the Greek stand — Hall 1.1/101, 101A — the presentation featured a table full of various products and recipes from different parts of Greece that tourists can find on the breakfast menus of hotels in the country.

“Tourism is all about the people and Greece is all about the experience and we want to share with you a piece of this authentic experience Greece offers,” Greek Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura said to the audience of foreign tourism professionals.

“Our Greek products and tastes are connected with our destination’s brand, they are linked with our past and future, our greater plan for sustainable tourism growth that creates benefits for all,” Minister Kountoura said, adding that the ministry supports the chamber’s initiative, which introduces Greece’s authentic tastes to visitors during their stay.

The presentation of “Greek Breakfast” at ITB Berlin is part of the chamber’s plan to promote the initiative to foreign markets.

“The Greek Breakfast initiative is now entering a year of extroversion. We are introducing the initiative abroad to create the added value for the hotels / members of the program,” Hellenic Chamber of Hotels President Alexandros Vassilikos told GTP Headlines.

Since its official launch in 2012, over 1,200 hoteliers across Greece have incorporated local products into their morning offerings, this way upgrading their quality, promoting local culinary traditions and paving the way for financial benefits for local communities.

The “Greek Breakfast” program lists over 40 local agreements made between hoteliers, producers and farmers to promote local products and local gastronomy through the breakfast menus of hotels, both through recipes and the products themselves.

“This inevitably leads to sustainable growth, as tourism should offer to other sectors… Greek Breakfast is the only certified and established product that links agricultural production with tourism… I firmly believe that Greek hotels should assist other sectors and act as a ‘gate’ to promote Greek products, considering that each region has a huge variety of products for breakfast that can promote destinations through gastronomy. We have established the product and now it’s time to show it abroad. I believe it has much to offer both Greece’s tourism and gastronomy,” Vassilikos said.

According to Sissy Angelopoulou, the program’s coordinator, the chamber has received very positive feedback from Greek hoteliers who are now using their “Greek Breakfast” membership as a marketing tool.

“In many cases, hotels have reported that they are welcoming many repeat visitors due to their Greek Breakfast menu,” she said, adding that more hotels have expressed interest to enroll in the program.

The Greek Breakfast program will travel to more exhibitions abroad in cooperation with the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) and the Tourism Ministry.

The chamber is also promoting the initiative by introducing the “Greek Breakfast” program to foreign ambassadors in Greece.