Greek Tourism Board Takes Actions to Boost Tourism from Japan

(L-R): Athanasios Karapetsas, General Counselor of the Greek Embassy in Tokyo; Sofia Lazaridou, Head of the General Directorate of Administration, Organization, and Promotion of the Greek National Tourism Organization; Thuyoshi Murakami, Director of Tourism Policy and Research at the Japan Tourism Organization, and Tatsuro ISHIDA and Takuya UKIGAYA from the International Relations Division of the Japan Tourism Organization. Photo source: GNTO.

As part of efforts to restore tourist flows from Japan to Greece, the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) participated in this year’s Τοurism Expo Japan held in Osaka last month.

Participation comes ahead of the “Greece-Japan Year of Culture and Tourism”, which kicks off in 2024 and is aimed at promoting culture and tourism through a series of jointly organized events.

Participating this year under the umbrella stand of the European Travel Commission (ETC), the GNTO held targeted meetings with representatives from the Japan Tourism Agency, the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), and local tour operators, including JTB, Kinki Nippon Tourist, HIS, Hankyu Travel, and Global Youth Bureau.

(L-R): Mahasiko INADA, Director of Outbound Tourism at JATA (Japan Association of Travel Agents); Sophia Lazaridou is the Head of the GNTO General Directorate of Administration, Organization, and Promotion; Polina Vrahati, Head of the Exhibition Department of GNTO’s Public Relations Division; Athanasios Karapetsas, General Counsellor of the Greek Embassy in Tokyo and is the Head of the Office of Public Relations at the Embassy of Greece in Tokyo, and Atsushi SAKAI, Vice President of JATA and Chairman of the Outbound Tourism Committee. Photo source: GNTO.

According to data collected at the Τοurism Expo Japan 2023, Japanese travelers are particularly interested in Greek culture, nature, and gastronomy. Winning destinations include Mykonos, Santorini, Olympia, Delphi and Meteora as well as honeymoon destinations in Greece. Travelers visiting Greece are also interested in taking three- or four-day cruises to Patmos, Rhodes and Crete.

Japan’s largest annual travel event, the Tourism Expo Japan is organized annually by the Japan Travel and Tourism Association, the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) and the Japan Tourism Agency with the participation of 1,275 tourism businesses and organizations from 70 countries and territories.