Minister Kikilias: Next Strategic Steps for Greek Tourism

Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias announced that the ministry would be implementing the next phase of its strategy which focuses on attracting investments that will bring added value to the industry.

“Greece is now a leading destination and we are ready to take the next steps,” the minister said in an interview to local media on Sunday.

Kikilias said the ministry’s next actions would take this year’s unprecedented success which demonstrated that demand for Greece was growing to the next level.

“It’s evident that Greece exceeded all expectations in 2022. The country is the ultimate summer – and not only – destination for every traveler as it offers unique experiences… and all this at a time of great adversity caused by the war in Europe, the energy crisis, inflation, the pandemic, Greek-Turkish relations… and yet Greece succeeded,” he said.

Among others, Kikilias said, Greece had managed so far to see tourism-related revenues exceed record year 2019 levels, a 12 percent increase in arrivals at Greek airports over pre-pandemic 2019, a 17 percent rise in the number of arrivals in the first week of August over 2019 and some 5,000 port-of-calls by cruise ships, not to mention the record number of arrivals on direct flights from the US.

What’s next

On the back of this dynamic, the government and the ministry are counting on “multiple tourism and hospitality investments” to upgrade the tourism product on offer and fuel strong growth, boost incomes and create jobs.

New or in-the-pipeline investments include important infrastructure projects on the islands and the mainland and a holistic plan for sustainable tourism development which will focus on the circular economy, water resources and waste management, electric mobility, decongestion of road networks and ports, penetration of renewables, education and digital transformation, he said.

Lastly, the minister reiterated that the ultimate goal is to extend the tourist season and ensure revenue generated from tourism is evenly distributed among the country’s residents.