East Halkidiki Eyes Luxury Travelers from Qatar and United Arab Emirates

Aristotle Mayor Stelios Valianos led a delegation during December 8-13 to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to promote the luxury tourism offerings of Eastern Halkidiki.

The Municipality of Aristotle in Eastern Halkidiki, northern Greece, is looking to attract luxury travelers from Arab countries.

Considering that the area of Aristotle is an ideal destination for upscale travelers seeking Greek destinations for family, school or honeymoon vacations, Aristotle Mayor Stelios Valianos recently led a delegation to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and promoted the municipality’s luxury tourism products to travel agents in both countries.

In Doha the Greek delegation held 13 business meetings with local travel agents and presented the Municipality of Aristotle and its luxury hotels through a photo tour.

Photo Source: Municipality of Aristotle

Doha’s travel agents also were introduced to Aristotle’s electronic brochure “Luxury: unveil a world of exclusive experiences”, which offers information on the destination’s luxury services and related forms of tourism including gastronomy, shopping, wellness, yachting, diving and MICE.

According to an announcement by the municipality, the travel agents expressed interest to include Eastern Halkidiki in their programs for 2022 and promote the destination with audiovisual material on their websites and on their office screens.

While in Doha, Mayor Valianos met with Greek Ambassador Eleni Michalopoulou and agreed to organize a fam trip to Aristotle for Arab tourism professionals in late June 2022.

The Aristotle municipality will hold three more fam trips for tour operators from the UAE in spring.

When in Dubai, the Greek delegation held eight meetings with travel agents and was informed that UAE travelers are showing an increasing demand for luxury travel, wedding/honeymoon destinations and school holiday trips.

Thessaloniki to complete the tourism experience

“Our identity is Halkidiki and we are introducing Aristotle as part of this destination,” Valianos said following his trip to the Middle East. However, he added that the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki – and its many city break options – can be an addition to the traveling experience of Eastern Halkidiki.

Photo Source: @Municipality of Thessaloniki

For 2022, the Aristotle Municipality is planning to create integrated luxury tourism packages for the markets of Qatar and UAE in collaboration with local entrepreneurs and Mideast, an Athens-based travel agency that specializes in the Arab market.

Furthermore, the municipality announced that it will be promoting its tourism offerings through the social media accounts of Arab travel agencies and through Greece’s participation in the international Dubai tourism expo in March 2022.