EBRD – SETE Team Up for Destination Management Project

Santorini island, Greece

The Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) announced that it had joined forces with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for a pilot destination management planning initiative currently being rolled out on the Greek islands of Rhodes and Santorini.

SETE will be providing its extensive knowhow to the program, which is funded by the European Union and supported by the Greek Tourism Ministry.

Set to run through to October, the pilot plan aims to help the island’s businesses and local communities respond to the challenges of tourism, including diversifying destinations, reducing the dependence on the “sun and beach” model and combating the threat of “overtourism”.

More specifically, SETE’s contribution to the destination management program will focus on providing program consultants with specialized research data collected and assessed by INSETE, SETE’s intelligence unit; presenting the program, its website and questionnaires aimed at tourism businesses and the local community to SETE members on Santorini and Rhodes; offering feedback together with Marketing Greece and INSETE on the destination management plans for Rhodes and Santorini, as well as on a destination management guide for the development of corresponding plans at other destinations in Greece; and participating and supporting the final events for the presentation of the projects on Rhodes, Santorini and in three other destinations including Athens.

Photo Source: Municipality of Rhodes

In the meantime, tourism stakeholders and residents on Santorini and Rhodes have until July 31 to provide feedback online on issues and challenges they are facing with the aim to create of a viable destination management plan for the future.