Greece Named ‘World’s Best Tourist Country’ at Grand Travel Awards 2024 in Sweden

Photo source: GNTO

Greece was awarded the title of “World’s Best Tourist Country” for the first time in 30 years at the annual Grand Travel Awards (GTA) 2024 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Regarded as the most significant yearly gathering of the Swedish tourism industry, the GTA is an event that has been hosted by the trade publication Travel News for 32 years.

Greece shared the stage with Italy, which was also awarded the same title, during the GTA 2024 ceremony that took place on February 15 in Stockholm. Spain, Thailand and Portugal had been nominated in the same category.

The Greek award was received by Nikos Karalekas, deputy head of the Greek Embassy in Stockholm, and Maria Zevgoula, deputy director of the Scandinavian branch of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO).

The winners in all award categories are chosen through a survey of approximately 400 travel agency executives who evaluated their best suppliers, as well as a representative sample of 4,000 Swedish tourists who had taken at least one trip with at least one overnight stay in the previous year.

According to recent arrival data from Greek airports, a total of 544,097 Swedish tourists visited Greece in 2023. According to the GNTO, the Swedes mainly prefer Greece due to the gastronomy and the feeling of safety.

Nikos Karalekas, deputy head of the Greek Embassy in Stockholm, and Maria Zevgoula, deputy director of the Scandinavian branch of the Greek National Tourism Organization. Photo source: GNTO

Greece also triumphed as Norway’s “Best Tourism Destination” at the Grand Travel Awards (GTA) earlier this year in Oslo, where the Scandinavian branch of the GNTO was named the “Best Foreign Tourism Office” of the year.