Athens Attends Major International Tourism Exhibitions

Photo source: @Develop Athens

Aiming to promote Athens as a MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) destination, the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency in 2020 participated in leading international tourism trade exhibitions and forums.

More specifically, the agency – known as EATA in Greek – participated in the virtual WTM London, IBTM World and the ICCA Congress, looking to prepare, as well as achieve, a dynamic recovery for Athens tourism once the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic subsides.

Through its ongoing promotional initiative “This is Athens”, EATA highlighted and promoted the Greek capital’s tourism offerings to professionals and experts at the following events:

– WTM Virtual

The WTM Virtual 2020 event ran online during November 9-11 with the participation of 5,000 international tourism professionals and journalists.

The executives of This is Athens held a total of 40 pre-arranged meetings with leading travel agents, media representatives and bloggers, mainly from the US, Canadian and European markets.

“Those meetings paved the way for future collaborations that will promote Athens and attract more visitors to the city,” EATA said in an announcement.

– IBTM World

During IBTM World, the leading global event for the meetings and events industry that was held online during December 8-10, the team of This is Athens held a total of 30 meetings with representatives of MICE companies and organizations.

The markets targeted by This is Athens were mainly France, Germany, the UK, Belgium and the United States. During the three-day exhibition, professional congress organizers expressed interest on Athens’ development projects including new hotel units and infrastructure. They also requested information on the management of the coronavirus pandemic and the Covid-19 health protocols applied in Greece.

EATA participated in this year’s IBTM World as a co-exhibitor of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO).

– ICCA Congress 2020

In early November, EATA representatives participated in the international conference of the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA) and held online meetings with representatives of conference organizers and top executives of international scientific associations from all over the world. The agency aimed to network and effectively promote Athens’ conference product and approach professionals from the fields of corporate meetings and incentive travel.

The agency’s representatives also had the opportunity to receive information about the new industry trends amid the pandemic.

“The Municipality of Athens is constantly developing Athens’ image, aiming for the dynamic recovery of tourism in the post-Covid-19 era. Our participation in three of the most important international tourism events provided us with valuable knowledge for the next day and gave us the opportunity to promote Athens to its target [tourism] markets as a destination for leisure and city break travelers, remote workers and MICE,” EATA CEO Vangelis Vlachos said.