New Greek Tourism Strategy has Four Goals

Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni. Photo source: Greek Tourism Ministry

Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni outlined the ministry’s top four goals in a speech she made during the opening ceremony of the Philoxenia – Hotelia duo exhibition at Thessaloniki’s international exhibition center on Friday.

Speaking to an audience of government officials and travel professionals, the minister referred to the encouraging messages she received for Greek tourism during the recent the World Travel Market (WTM) exhibition in London.

Citing data available to date, she said Greece is seeing a significant increase in arrivals and revenues that are solid indications that numbers will surpass the record year of 2019. More specifically, arrivals to Greece in the year to August were up 18 percent year on year and tourism receipts up by 15 percent.

Highlighting that a new chapter is opening for Greek tourism, Kefalogianni said the ministry will engage in new actions for the sector’s development based on a strategy with sustainability at its core.

New strategy for Greek tourism: 4 goals

The ministry’s new strategy for tourism will focus on achieving four goals, namely:

– to promote the sustainability of destinations
– to diversify and improve the competitiveness of the Greek tourist product
– to upgrade tourism education and training
– to strengthen the promotion of the Greek tourist product by utilizing new tools and taking a new approach.

Referring to the natural disasters that hit Greek destinations during the summer, Kefalogianni said the ministry has been in close contact with victims from the first moment, dealing with the successive crises and providing solutions to the problems.

“Greek tourism faced a very difficult summer, with unprecedented and consecutive crises. Despite the adversities, however, as a whole the secotr showed remarkable resilience because it has a solid foundation and a valuable human capital with increased know-how,” she said.

With regard to the Philoxenia tourism exhibition, Kefalogianni referred to the trade show as an opportunity to present everything new and innovative in the country’s travel services and hospitality, but also in tourism as a whole.

Greece’s annual international tourism exhibition Philoxenia is being held once again with the Hotelia international hotel equipment expo. The Philoxenia-Hotelia duo, organized by TIF-Helexpo, aims to present the country’s leading tourist destinations, new technologies as well as tourism-related products and services. The exhibitions will run until November 12.

The Greek Travel Pages (GTP) is a communication sponsor for the Philoxenia expo.