Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #37

EUROPE INBOUND
TRENDING DESTINATIONS
Hotel & Tourism
SMARTreport #37
2018 Winter Edition 35
Elena
Kountoura
Greece’s Minister for Tourism
FOR 2020, WE AIM TO
HAVE MORE THAN 35-MILLION
TOURISTS AND MORE THAN
20% EXTRA CAPACITY
Greek destinations Heraklion and
Athens are “standout performers
in 2017”, according to recent
research for World Travel Market
London.
The Greek National Tourism
Organisation expected a recordbreaking
30 million international
visitors to Greece for 2017 – up 7%
Greece’s Minister for Tourism, Elena
Kountoura, told Cleverdis that
tourism truly unites people: “It’s
all about open borders, freedom
and democracy, and the right of
everyone to be able to travel. At
the same time, the megatrend is
for people, when traveling, to seek
authentic experiences. In the past,
there were a lot of all-inclusive
visit the country that spawned
democracy, philosophy, and the
Olympic Games. But in order to
promote the entire Greek territory,
we have developed thematic
travel – for example religious
tourism, with all the monuments
that can be found here, or the
holy mountain. We have the
Greek gastronomy, there is a big
GREECE EMERGES THANKS
TO TOURISM SECTOR
All set for a record-breaking year with visitor arrivals reaching 30m
year-on-year – as the destination
has invested in its tourism industry
and improved its image overseas.
Greece’s tourism policies have
helped to extend the travel season,
promote different thematic
products, open new markets and
boost connectivity by air, land and
sea. For the last two years, Greece’s
growth has been nearly twice the
global industry average of 3.9%.
The World Travel & Tourism Council
estimates that tourism in 2017 will
help boost the Greek economy
by 6.9% – supporting nearly one
million jobs and representing 20%
of the country’s GDP.
packages, but in the last two
years we have been developing,
with our regional offices, a lot
of thematic products so we can
give a broad number of different
opportunities and choices to our
visitors. In Greece, we attempt
to promote a balance with
sustainable tourism in such a way
to enable tourists to truly benefit
from what the regions have to
offer. Our historical and cultural
product range is huge. It’s not
only the Acropolis, the museums,
Poseidon or Delphe or Meteora,
it’s something bigger. It’s the root
of western civilization, and in that
sense, everyone has a dream to
interest in MICE tourism, and we
have beautiful weather, so people
can enjoy the outdoors while
here for business. Then there’s
nautical tourism, for which we
are very famous, but also, we are
promoting winter sports, cycling
tours, rock-climbing, and wellness
and medical tourism thanks to our
over 700 thermal centres.”
What is the minister’s goal for
the future of tourism in Greece?
“For 2020, we aim to have more
than 35-million tourists and more
than 20% extra capacity, and for
tourism to account for 22% of
GDP (+2%)”