Greece Aiming for Year-round Direct Flights from Canada

Photo source: Air Canada

Greece’s Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development Olympia Anastasopoulou discussed the possibility of extending direct flights from Canada to Greece throughout the year during her visit to Canada this week for the Toronto Economic Forum.

The Toronto Economic Forum was organized by the Delphi Economic Forum in partnership with The Hellenic Initiative Canada in association with Canada-Greece Chamber of Commerce and the Hellenic-Canadian Board of Trade.

Greece’s Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development Olympia Anastasopoulou.

During the event, Anastasopoulou met with local tourism and travel stakeholders including airline executives, tour operators and Diaspora Greek associations.

Also on the agenda of talks was the launch of airline connections to new destinations in Greece. In this direction she met with Senior Vice President, Products, Marketing & eCommerce for Air Canada, Mark Nasr, with whom she discussed year-round direct flights and new routes as well as the inclusion of Greek-branded products during these flights.

Air Canada’s Mark Nasr with Olympia Anastasopoulou.

Participating in the “Tourism Sector Investment – Opportunities in Greece” panel discussion, she highlighted Greece’s growing appeal among international investors and also referred to the creation of new targeted tourism products catering to the needs of the Canadian market which is interested in sustainable travel.

She went on to add that the ministry’s strategy focused on promoting the regions of Attica, South Aegean and Crete which attract the largest share of incoming tourism, followed by the regions of Central Macedonia, the Ionian Islands and the Peloponnese and lastly, the regions of Thessaly, Epirus and Western Macedonia.

Anastasopoulou also held meetings with John Sotos, co-president of The Hellenic Initiative Canada; Vincent Veerasuntharam, president Suvara Travels Canada Inc and Connaissance Travel and Tours; Yiannis Stamatakos, NIMAS Strategic Advisors Government & Public Affairs; Toni Lourakis, CEO – co-founder Fleet Complete and president Hellenic Heritage Foundation (HHF), Pat Gianakos, manager Νew Wave Τravel; and Yannis Kakagiannis, CEO GreekEscapes; and George Alexandrou, CEO Alexandrou Travel Design.