OPINION LEADERS ISSUE 10

important and honorary position to
be Minister of Tourism in a country
like Greece where tourism is
one of the essential mechanisms
of the State’s economy, how difficult
has become promoting your
country in such times? I mean the
financial crisis goes beyond borders
and has “touched” everyone around
the world.
A: Greece in the past two years has
been moving forward. The Greek government
has made enormous efforts
to bring back the economy on track
and to create a new environment for
growth and for a better and brighter
future for the Greek people that had
endured unprecedented hardship for
many years. The positive reforms are
being recognized by international institutions.
The economy is stabilizing and
improving, while credibility and trust is
being restored.
Tourism has emerged as a vital sector
to our economic and social prosperity. It
accounts for 20 per cent of the national
GDP and for about one million tourismrelated
jobs, one fifth of the country’s
workforce.
In 2015 we began implementing our
new national tourism policy for year
round tourism focused on extending
the official tourism season, introducing
new Greek destinations, opening new
and dynamic source-markets abroad and
increasing connectivity, promoting thematic
tourism, and attracting new tourism
investments of high added value.
Through the implementation of this
policy, we achieved record-breaking
results consecutively for the two
previous years, and international arrivals
in 2016 exceeded 27.5 million. The
General Secretary of the World Tourism
Organization of the United Nations, Dr.
Taleb Rifai has referred to these results
as a “miracle” due to our successful
tourism policy, the strong political will
and the noteworthy crisis management
of destination and commended for
achieving such high performance
despite the consecutive challenges and
sad events that affected tourism in the
wider area and Europe.
Greece is the ultimate destination
in the Med and Europe all year round,
a unique country of rich history and
culture, of exquisite beauty, very friendly
and safe, offering warm hospitality and
so many choices for authentic, highly
personalized travel experiences.
Q: What has been achieved so far?
A: Tourism in Greece, exceeded all expectations
and recorded growth rates
of 7% and 8% in the past two years,
double the global average growth, despite
continuous external challenges
and pressure in all recent years. This
success has been the outcome of our
strategic planning and our effective national
tourism policy that brought immediate
results.
We pursued and achieved to extend
our official summer season from
March until November, which has
been reflected in increased arrivals and
the highest occupancies ever in most
destinations. Our negotiations with
major tour operators and air-carriers
has led to tourism packages and new
direct flights for a longer period and to a
larger number of Greek destinations. We
have worked on increasing connectivity
throughout the year, with the most
recent and extremely important route
being the Emirates new route which is as
of March connecting Athens with Dubai
and New York on a daily basis all-yearround..
Greece is now connected directly
with more capitals and regional airports
to popular new Greek destinations that
we began promoting.
We opened new and dynamic markets
abroad such as the Middle East,
China, South Korea, and enhanced our
presence in our traditional markets, as
well as in the United States and Russia.
As a result, we had immediate increase
of tourist flows from these markets last
year, and an increase of high-end tourism
of about 10 per cent.
Our main target for 365 days tourism
is being materialized, through the development
of all new thematic tourism
products we now offer, including cultural
tourism, pilgrimage tourism, medical
tourism, wellness and spas, cruises,
yachting and diving, luxury tourism,
sports and recreation, MICE and business
travel, city-breaks in our wonderful
vibrant cities that offer culture, entertainment,
great shopping and food, and
of course our famous Greek gastronomy
across Greece.
The dynamic created in the tourism
sector has mobilized increased interest
from investors and foreign schemes that
explore concrete opportunities to invest
in tourism and real estate. In the past
year, our Ministry’s one-stop-shop received
more than 140 proposals for new
and existing 4 and 5 star hotels of more
than 300 beds across Greece and 16 projects
for Integrated Tourism Resorts that
are in various stages of licensing.
Q: Do you think summer tourism
“Greece is the ultimate
destination in the Med and
Europe all year round,
a unique country of rich
history and culture, of
exquisite beauty, very
friendly and safe, offering
warm hospitality and so
many choices for authentic,
highly personalized travel
experiences.”
will be deflated because of all the
issues Greece seems to be having
with the refugee flows and the
tense in the area?
A: 2017 is predicted to be Greek tourism’s
best year so far. Early bookings
record an incredible double-digit increase
from all our source-markets varying
from 15 to 70 per cent. According
to major tour operators and representatives
of the European and global travel
industry, Greece has emerged as a top
trend for travel in Europe for the summer
period.
The refugee issue is a European matter
that requires to be handled on a global
level. The Greek government has dealt
with the issue with the utmost respect
for human rights. The Greek people
have been praised by the United Nations
World Tourism Organization and other
international bodies for their compassionate
and welcoming attitude taking
care of people, when they needed it the
most. The Greeks sent a strong message
of solidarity and peace across the world.
The Ministry of Tourism implemented
early in 2016 a very effective
strategy, undertaking actions on a political,
operational, and communicational
level. All necessary infrastructure for
receiving refugees had been set up in a
small number of areas where no tourist
activity took place. Through extensive
promotional initiatives abroad, and with
more than 40 fam trips and press trips,
we emphasized on portraying the actual
situation in these islands, despite the exaggerated
images reproduced in the media.
Tourism continued as usual and all
our visitors enjoyed excellent vacation.
We managed to reverse the previous image,
and as a result, bookings for these
destinations for 2017 show a total comeback
with a double-digit increase.
Our islands are stunning and absolutely
ready to receive millions of visitors,
for their unique beauty, the high
quality of tourism services, the many
choices they offer and the very warm
hospitality.
Q: “Tourism is our national power”
you stated recently in one of your
speeches...it is indeed for Greece
although one has to recognise Mrs.
Minister that previously Greece
did not have such a powerful
representation abroad as it has
now. Should you be getting all the
credit for that?
A: Tourism is a national matter and a
top governmental priority. We work
excellent with all the Ministries as
one team and we coordinate policies,
issues and priorities that are related to
tourism.
The Ministry’s role is to form the
strategy for the necessary framework to
ensure that all high quality standards
are met, and to pave the way for tourism
activity to further develop. We create
the environment to encourage the private
tourism sector to do more business,
and develop new plans, new co-operations
and initiatives that will enhance
our competitiveness in the global travel
market. We have also established a very
close cooperation with the 13 regions of
the country, the municipalities, chambers,
as well as the private sector in promoting
dynamically Greece abroad, and
showcasing the attractiveness of our
tourism product offered by each destination.
Through collaboration in all levels of
government we have achieved very positive
outcome for our tourism’s growth
and this has been Greece’s success overall.
Q: You seem to have travelled everywhere
in order to promote Greece…
A: I have visited several countries in
official trips where I meet with government
officials and my counterparts
to enhance bilateral and trilateral relations
in tourism. In these meetings
we discuss and confirm our will to advance
further cooperation, connectivity
and accessibility, and the exchange
of tourism flows with mutual benefits.
In our participation in all major international
events of the global travel industry,
I meet with tour operators and
travel representatives, to discuss the
new opportunities that Greece offers
and increase our international share for
incoming travel. Greece’s presence is
dynamic through the GNTO participation
in an increased number of Travel
Trade Shows and Exhibitions in our traditional
but also new source- markets
that we have opened. We aim to further
strengthen our image and brand,
through networking and through a
targeted marketing plan of presence
in global digital travel platforms, campaigns
that run in global media outlets,
in flight magazines and social media.
We also meet with institutions and investors
to showcase all the latest opportunities
to invest in the Greek tourism
sector, and we support workshops and
B2B meetings of our travel industry.
Q: What is the most important issue
for the Greek Ministry of Tourism
at the moment? What can you
do more?
A: Tourism plays an essential role in
bringing growth. Our goal is for more
tourism arrivals and revenues, more
investments for tourism facilities and
services, and this to be reflected in new
business and new jobs across the country.
Through tourism development, we
aim to create new sources of income
and employment, and all benefits be diffused
in the regional economy and the
local communities.
Sustainability is a strategic choice
in our plan for tourism development.
It’s our ultimate goal to protect the environment
with the utmost respect and
that our natural resources remain intact,
while preserving and highlighting
our unique culture, traditions and our
very distinct identity. We also promote
our famous Mediterranean diet with its
benefits to health and longevity, and link
tourism to our agricultural products,
supporting local producers, farmers and
family businesses that depend directly
or indirectly on tourism activity.
To this end, we also encourage new
investments for the enrichment of our
tourism product in order to ensure high
standards of quality in overall infrastructure,
accommodation and services.
All the above have been carefully taken
under consideration so that Greece can
become an exemplary destination for its
sustainable practices and the authenticity
it offers.
Q: How do you imagine Elena
Kountoura in a decade? Can you
share your plans for the future?
A: My efforts right now focus on
promoting and establishing Greece
as a 365 days destination, not only
for attracting increasing numbers of
travellers who come for vacation, but
also because Greece through its tourism
can be a bridge for new business to
take place in the wider region, for new
opportunities that arise for investments
and projects in sectors such as transport,
technology, energy and commerce.
Tourism unites people and nations,
and Greece has a significant role in the
efforts in the wider region to open new
roads for stability and growth, peace
and prosperity. To this end, we work
intensively towards showcasing these
new attractive opportunities to invest
in Greece and intrigue foreign interest
for economic and business activity that
is linked to our tourism and contributes
to long-term growth. As for my future
plans, my intention is to continue to
work towards contributing to my country’s
benefit and to the Greek peoples’
well-being. ■
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