Eastern Halkidiki Forms Tourism Ties with Sicilian Cities

The Aristotle Municipality in Eastern Halkidiki recently held a tourism roadshow in Sicily aiming to strengthen its tourism and cultural ties with local officials and travel professionals.

Held in late August, the roadshow included stops to Catania, Taormina, Messina and Palermo where municipality executives held meetings with local authorities and travel agents.

Discussions focused on developing ties to strengthen educational tourism and other thematic tourism forms, including cultural, pilgrimage, wedding and marine tourism.

“With our trip to Sicily, we concluded our plan to approach Mediterranean destinations, such as Cyprus, the Balearics, Corsica and Malta,” Aristotle Mayor Stelios Valianos said.

According to Valianos, the municipality aims to attract students from educational organizations in Sicily, including universities, to the birthplace of great Greek philosopher Aristotle and to Thessaloniki, Mt Athos and Eastern Halkidiki.

“The bridges we build through thematic exchanges and the collaboration of young people, will support our tourism product,” he said.

In Catania and Taormina, Aristotle municipality executives met with local travel agents who expressed their interest in including Greece in their travel packages. In Messina, discussions with travel agents focused on tourism student exchange programs and pilgrimage tourism.

Moreover, while in Palermo, Stelios Valianos discussed with Mayor Roberto Sagalla the potential of implementing an integrated scheme of tourism exchanges – educational, cultural, historic and MICE.

The two sides agreed to proceed with a wider cultural networking agreement to be signed in Ouranoupoli and Ierissos next April.