Greece Expects New GNTO Melbourne Branch to Boost Tourist Flows

Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias and Australia’s Ambassador to Greece Arthur Spyrou in Plaka. Photo source: Tourism Ministry.

Greece is counting on the new Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) branch opening in Melbourne to boost traveler flows and meet the demands of the growing Australian market.

Strengthening cooperation between the two countries in tourism was the focus of talks between Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias and Australia’s Ambassador to Greece Arthur Spyrou during a stroll in the Plaka district this week.

The opening of a GNTO branch in Melbourne is “very important for us because Australia is a very big market and we want it in Greece,” said Kikilias, adding that the tourist season in Greece had now been extended beyond the traditional summer months into fall and winter and has started earlier – in March –  than ever before this year.

The minister confirmed that Greece had already exceeded pre-Covid 2019 and 2022 figures in the first three months of the year and that travel receipts and arrivals were expected to be higher by 20 percent over 2019.

Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias and Australia’s Ambassador to Greece Arthur Spyrou in Plaka. Photo source: Tourism Ministry.

“I think the season will be very long. In 2019, we had 340,000 Australians come and the trend is up. We know that the Australian tourist who will come here is not only coming for reasons of nostalgia – which are very important, of course, as you can imagine – but is also coming to experience something authentic,” said Spyrou.

The opening of a GNTO branch in Melbourne is part of the Tourism Ministry’s strategy to further strengthen ties with the Greek diaspora in Australia.

“It is vital that we add more markets, more dynamic to the country, so that we have travelers and tourists 12 months a year,” Kikilias has said, referring to the 300,000 Greek-Australians who live in Melbourne – the world’s second largest diaspora community – and are eager to travel after two years of Covid-19 restrictions.

Kikilias initially announced the opening of the GNTO Melbourne office while attending the Hellenic Medical Diaspora World Congress 2022 last year.