Athens Evolving into Top Remote Work Destination, Says Minister

The Greek Tourism Ministry is moving closer to employing a data driven approach when formulating policies, especially for Athens, with the aim of ensuring targeted and farther reaching actions for the sector’s development, according to Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias. 

Referring to the Greek capital in an interview to Ready2 Board magazine, released by Athens International Airport (AIA), Kikilias said that based on demand and feedback, Athens was evolving into a top tourist and remote work destination.

The minister said “the city was being transformed” thanks to the enhancement of its coastal front with significant investments and the upgrade of the city center with the creation of new hotels and modernized facilities.

Athens is also emerging as an attractive destination for digital nomads and has a dynamic tourism startup ecosystem, he added.

Kikilias added that AIA has contributed to the overall traveler experience as the first image of Athens and Greece upon arrival. 

Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias

In addition to hotel investments, the minister also referred to infrastructure upgrades, the diversification of the tourist product, actions for the protection of the environment and sustainability initiatives as well as updated professional training and support of entrepreneurship, which are key ministry priorities and which will in large part be funded by national and EU resilience funds.

In this direction, Kikilias said together with an action plan tabled by the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), the initiatives, projects and investments will contribute to creating a new tourism model for Greece. 

According to a recent INSETE study, revenue from Greek tourism can increase to 27 billion euros annually by 2030 from the previous record of 18 billion euros in pre-Covid 2019.

Lastly, Kikilias said actions were being taken to develop ecotourism. In this direction, he announced the establishment of specially trained rescue teams for the mountainous regions of Greece according to standards of Switzerland, France and Italy. “We want people to get to know nature, to enjoy it with respect and, above all, in safety,” he said.