EU’s ‘EDEN’ Ranks Patra 2nd for Social Media Outreach

Photo Source: western-greece.com

The port city of Patra, in Western Greece, is ranked second for the efficiency and success of its online communication strategy, according to a recent European Destinations of Excellence (EDEN) report.

Run by the European Commission, the EDEN initiative promotes sustainable tourism development models across Europe through annual national competitions which award a “destination of excellence” for each participating country. The winners are emerging, lesser-known destinations across the Union.

At the same time, each EDEN destination is also promoted on the European Best Destinations site, which is based in Brussels and promotes culture and tourism in Europe. It works with participating tourism offices and reaches out to more than 6 million online users promoting Europe as the number one destination in the world.

Source: My EDEN Destination 2019

More specifically, the Western Greece Region, named European Destination of Excellence in 2018, is among the emerging tourist destinations ranked for the effectiveness of their social media strategies with Patra – awarded in 2017 as a European Destination of Excellence for promoting cultural tourism for the 8th EDEN edition – boasting some 29,238 European Best Destinations followers, and 28,633 followers on Facebook marking a 1 percent rise in growth of popularity compared to a year ago.

“The results demonstrate that the initiatives taken by the Region of Western Greece for participation in innovative tourism development programs and networks are in the right direction. These ensure visibility with significant added value and at the same time enable the region to remain at the center of the European networks that shape future sustainable tourism development policies on behalf of the EU,” said Vice Governor of Regional Development and Entrepreneurship, Kostas Karpetas.

Patra Photo © Alexander Tolstykh / Shutterstock

The report goes on to note that the Western Greece Region is doing a good job with its social media networks, as these appear to be engaging, updated, and interactive.