Destinations

The Acropolis, Ancient Agora, districts in Athens and Piraeus, Meteora, Mykonos and Santorini will soon be promoted panoramically through high-resolution images “caught” by renowned Russian group Airpano.

On the occasion of World Tourism Day, the Tourism Ministry and the Greek National Tourism Organization yesterday, 27 September, hosted a special concert of the Orchestra of Colors at the New Acropolis Museum.

Nineteen Greek coasts that were honored with the quality “Blue Flag” award in June were recently dropped from the 2012 list, according to the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature. The “Blue Flag” is a voluntary eco-label awarded to beaches across the world.

The Tourism Ministry and the City of Athens in early September announced a twofold effort that will address the tourism disincentives of the city center and see to the creation of new infrastructure to attract visitors.

The Thessaloniki Tourism Organization traveled to Ankara, Turkey, recently to promote the Greek Northern city to the Turkish market.

The first promotional video that showcases the conference tourism product of Athens was launched recently by the Athens Convention Bureau (ACB) and the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency.

“Our goal is to establish Athens as a final destination instead of a stopover destination through the expansion of its tourism product and for the average spending per visitor to increase,” the chairman of the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency, Yiorgos Broulias, said recently.

“The Thessaloniki Convention and Visitors Bureau (TCVB) excels as a destination choice for conference organizers and ICTP (International Council of Tourism Partners) is proud to have it join as a destination member,” ICTP Chairman Juergen T. Steinmetz said in late July.

Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni will consider adding another form of tourism to the Tourism Ministry’s portfolio, that of cinematic tourism, the Greek press reported last month.

“The improvement of public safety is a prerequisite for tourism development especially in the historic center of the capital but also more widely throughout Athens,” Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said in late July after a meeting with Public Order and Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Dendias.