Thessaloniki and Halkidiki Work Together to Attract More Irish Travelers

(Third from left): Greek National Tourism Organization Head of UK & Ireland branch Eleni Skarveli; (First from right): Halkidiki Tourism Organization (HTO) General Director Georgios Broutzas. Photo source: HTO.

The tourism organizations of Thessaloniki (TTO) and Halkidiki (HTO) jointly participated at the Holiday World Show 2023 in Dublin, aiming to attract more Irish travelers to the northern Greek destinations.

The Holiday World Show Dublin is the largest international exhibition in Ireland for travelers looking for personalized travel advice and show-only deals. This year’s edition saw over 550 exhibitors and a turnout of over 30,000 visitors.

During the event, the joint northern Greek delegation, which included representatives from the Central Macedonia Region, held meetings with Irish tourism stakeholders, heads of leading travel agencies, journalists and travel content creators.

Broutzas presenting Halkidiki at the event’s HTO stand. Photo source: @GeorgiosBroutzas.

The delegation met with Andrea Holmes, Head of European Product of Ireland’s largest travel agency, Sunway Holidays; Alan Lynch, Managing Director of award-winning Irish travel and cruise agency, Travel Escapes; Peter Mcminn, Managing Director of Northern Ireland’s coveted travel agency Travel Solutions; The Irish Sun journalist Dani Russell Masterson and Irish travel content creators Cloda Scanlon and Jess Glynn.

Talks were also held with executives from the New Deal Europe platform about organizing a Thessaloniki-based event exclusively for British and Irish buyers; representatives of Irish PR and marketing agency Travel Media.ie; and luxury travel agency OROKO Travel.

According to the tourism organizations of Thessaloniki and Halkidiki, thanks to a direct air connection from Dublin from April to October, the number of Irish visitors to Thessaloniki has been steadily increasing, reaching 10,356 in 2022, up from 9,142 in 2021.

Paliouri, Halkidiki. Photo Source: @Halkidiki.

According to the tourism organizations, their participation in the event was warmly welcomed by the Irish audience that is interested in visiting destinations offering sun, sea, culture, diverse forms of tourism, and good food and entertainment.

In a joint statement, the president of the Thessaloniki Tourism Organization, Voula Patoulidou, and the president of the Halkidiki Tourism Organization, Grigoris Tasios, highlighted the strong bond between  Thessaloniki and Halkidiki and underlined how both destinations can ensure a “dynamic future” for attracting more Irish visitors to the region.

“Both organizations are working together to promote their destinations as a unified, single tourism product,” Patoulidou and Tasios said.