Pilgrimage Tourism to Greece Tops Agenda of Newly-formed Committee

Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni (center) with Deputy Tourism Minister Elena Rapti and Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development Myron Flouris. Photo source: Greek Tourism Ministry

As part of efforts to enhance the tourism product, introduce new forms of tourism and extend the season, the Greek Tourism Ministry held the first meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee of Pilgrimage Tourism.

Overseen by Deputy Tourism Minister Elena Rapti, the committee aims to formulate strategies and actions that will create religious and pilgrimage tourism products.

The meeting was attended by Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni, representatives from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Church of Greece, the Church of Crete, the Administration of Mount Athos, the culture ministry and the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO). The ministry’s Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development, Myron Flouris, also attended the meeting.

Kefalogianni welcomed the first meeting of the committee, which she said would further develop a special interest form of tourism thus enriching the domestic tourism product and highlighting lesser-known tourist destinations throughout the year.

On her part, Rapti, who is also the president of the committee said that religious tourism contributes to acceptance and understanding between peoples through visits to religious sites which make up “our common world cultural heritage”.

Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni, Deputy Tourism Minister Elena Rapti and Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development Myron Flouris with representatives from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Church of Greece, the Church of Crete, the Administration of Mount Athos and the GNTO. Photo source: Greek Tourism Ministry

Before the pandemic, the tourism ministry discussed developing religious tourism and pilgrimage tours with Greek Church officials citing the country’s many cultural and religious treasures, many of which have been included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Earlier this summer, Kefalogianni met with the archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronymos, to renew a cooperation protocol for the development of religious-pilgrimage tourism initially signed in January 2013.