Philoxenia 2014: Minister Hopes Breakthrough in Thessaloniki’s Tourism Next Year

“2015 may be the year for tourism in Thessaloniki,” Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said Thursday, 13 November, following a meeting she had with the city’s mayor, Yiannis Boutaris, on the sidelines of the 30th Philoxenia expo.

Photo © Anastasios71

According to Mrs. Kefalogianni, Thessaloniki has the ability to attract and service much more visitors than it currently does as it offers a range of alternative forms of tourism.

The topics discussed during the meeting involved all areas where the local government can work with the state to carry out projects for tourism development.

Mrs. Kefalogianni announced that the Tourism Ministry would assist in the municipality’s global promotional actions through its Greek National Tourism Organization offices abroad and also provide its expertise on any other activities related to tourism development.

She also informed Mr. Boutaris that the memorandum of cooperation signed with the country’s national exhibition body, TIF-Helexpo, would give an extra boost to the city’s conference and business tourism sector and contribute to its development in the city and the region.

Photo © Aggelos Ekonomou

In addition, Mrs. Kefalogianni and Mr. Boutaris also discussed ways to ease the movement of visitors traveling to Thessaloniki by sea and land and also to other destinations that could be accessed easily via the Greek northern city.

For details on the municipality’s views and plans in regards to tourism, press here.

Philoxenia is Greece’s annual meeting point for the development of strategies and business alliances among tourism professionals. The international tourism exhibition will run until 16 November at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center.