Greek Luxury Tourism on GNTO’s Agenda

The Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) is joining forces with the Greek Destination Planners Association (GDPA) to promote Greece as a luxury destination ideal for high-end corporate and social events.

According to an announcement by the GNTO, the two organizations will sign a memorandum of cooperation and undertake common initiatives to promote luxury tourism, a sector with great development potential that can contribute substantially to the competitiveness of Greece’s tourism product.

“Luxury tourism is a strategic goal of GNTO for the next years. Greece has all the comparative advantages and experienced individuals with knowhow to stand out especially in the events sector,” GNTO Secretary General Dimitris Fragakis said, adding that he expects cooperation with the GDPA to be very productive.

Members of GDPA’s board of directors Anna Sourbati and Thomas Politis with GNTO Secretary General Dimitris Fragakis.

Apart from luxury tourism, GNTO and GDPA will also look to promote corporate and social events such as wedding ceremonies.

The cooperation foresees:

• the provision of content from GDPA to the GNTO
• the development of a new promotion campaign
• the organization of common targeted activities in collaboration with GNTO’s offices abroad.

Greece a top wedding destination

Wedding on Mykonos

During their meeting with Fragakis, the members of GDPA’s board of directors Anna Sourbati and Thomas Politis, noted that Greece is among the top five wedding destinations, together with Portugal, Italy, France and Turkey.

“Organized promotional initiatives could further enhance Greece’s share in this field and generate added value,” they said.

According to the GNTO, Greece’s total revenue from luxury/wedding tourism reached 200 million euros in 2019 from hotel stays, shopping, venue rentals and supplier fees.

The majority of the country’s luxury visitors are of medium or high income and come from dynamic source markets for Greece including Australia, the US, Israel, the UK and the Arab countries.

Furthermore, the average spending per luxury visitor is four times higher than the average spending of leisure travelers.

The Greek Destination Planners Association (GDPA) aims to promote weddings and events in Greece as well as best practices within the sector. Today it represents 20 of the sector’s largest companies.